Portal Of Darkness
by Matt Smith
Summary: When a group of friends fall through a portal by accident, they find themselves suddenly stuck in the Star Wars Universe, near the start of the Clone Wars. Now, they will have to adapt and stick together, in order to survive and find a way home.
1. Chapter 1

_Hi. My name is Matt, and what you are about to read, is a story that I wrote. There is something you should know however. I did not think up the plot line for this story. I did not create this story. A friend of mine, Kristy Harrington, from the UK, had a dream of the events in this story, and decided to develop it into a story. But she claims she's not that skillful when it comes to writing (though, I do not agree. She's written plenty of great stories before), and there for, she has asked me to write it for her. She's the primary creator and co-editor, where I am the primary editor and writer. The credit goes mostly to her. Please read and enjoy, and be sure to post reviews, and let us know how you like it. - Matt, Friend and Writer._

_**Created By Kristy Harrington and Written By Matt Smith**_

**PORTAL OF DARKNESS**

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******Chapter One**

The seminar started at an hour ago, which made Kristy a little uneasy, because she hated to arrive late. She didn't even know why she bothered to come, seeing as she was so bloody late, but she did for some reason. She rushed up into the building. It was five stories tall, so she stopped at the front desk as she clearly forgot to read the email they sent to her, to inform her which floor the seminar was taking place on.

"Hi," she said to the receptionist, who looked up at her, seeming bored. "I'm here for the Forum and Website seminar."

"That started an hour and... three minutes ago."

"Yes... I know. What floor is it?"

"3rd Floor."

"Thank you."

She took off to the nearest elevator. As she waited for it, she took out the paper ad for the seminar and looked it over again. The elevator dinged as the doors opened up. She stepped on and pressed the 3rd floor button. The ride was short, as all elevator rides are, and she stepped off into the hall and walked down to the only door on the floor.

She peeked inside. There was only a few people there, and it looked like they were still setting up chairs. She stepped inside. A man looked up at her as he set a chair out. "You here for the Forum Seminar?"

She nodded. "Yeah."

"Well, we'll be starting in a few minutes."

"I was told you had started an hour ago."

"That lady at the front desk couldn't find her head today, so she doesn't know shit." He muttered, and went back to setting up chairs. She walked over and took a seat in the back row that had been set up.

As the minutes went by slowly, there was a loud chatter of people out in the hall. Suddenly there was a flood of people coming into the room. She stared at the different people that came in and found a seat. She couldn't help but notice two guys who came in, quiet looking, but they sat down next to each other, seeming to be the best of buddies.

One of them seemed so familiar to her. She'd seem him from somewhere, but she couldn't place it. He wasn't a star. Far from it. But still... She took out her cell phone and used it to get on the internet as the main speaker started to talk.

She brought up facebook which was a god send in her life at the moment, she looked through her contacts and there he was. Matthew Smith. The other guy had an Australian accent, which led her to believe that it was...

"Blazer?!" She called, as everyone was walking out of the seminar as it ended. Both guys turned. "Kristy?" They both called back. A grin broke out onto her face as she ran over to them. "Hey mates!" She said, but then her face dropped the grin slightly. She suddenly had no idea what to say to them.

"So we finally meet!" Matt said. She studied him. He was tall, 6 foot, with dirty blond hair, dark green eyes, with a little acne on his face. He was skinny, but not too skinny like some people. He was wearing a blue t-shirt, with white and black strips down it all over. It had a collar to it, so it looked slightly professional with the kakke pants he had on. He had on black dress shoes, but they weren't shinny, so it didn't give off the effect that he was totally rich and famous.

She looked into his eyes and suddenly forgot what she was doing, or where she was at. Suddenly there was a strange tune. They both looked at their cell phones, but then put them away. "Uh... Kay, your ringing."

She blinked before snapping out of it. "Right! Sorry!" She took out her cell. "Who's the two dudes?" A voice asked her. She blinked again. "Who's this?" There was a puff of annoyance. "It's me! Lara! Guess I'm late for the seminar."

"Yeah..."

"Sorry. Alarm didn't go off this morning."

"It's fine! Come on over. You have to meet these two."

She hung up her cell and suddenly Lara was by her side. "Matt! Blazer! This is Lara!"

"Shadow."

"Your name is Lara..."

"I go by Shadow." Lara hissed, and extended her hand out. "Shadow. So nice to meet you Matt, Blazer. Such an odd name, wouldn't you say? Blazer?" He cocked his eye at her. Kristy rolled her eyes. "No! It's Matt and Blazer! From the forum!"

Lara thought about it for a moment. "OH! Awesome! Nice to meet you face to face!"

"It's nice to meet you both in person, Lara. Kristy. You guys wanna get something to eat? My treat." Matt said. They all smiled.

"Matt?!"

"Matthew!"

"Kristy?! Blazer!?"

Another girl, with an accent, walked over. She was beautiful, in those terms, but looked mischievous in her own way. Matt looked at her. "Yes?"

Suddenly another girl walked up and smacked him upside the head. "Thanks for leaving me downstairs!"

"I told you where I was, Rebecca!" He replied snappishly.

"It's me! AJ!" The other girl said. Matt turned suddenly, his full attention on her now. "AJ! Awesome! Come on. We're going for lunch. My treat." He said again. They all started for the elevator. Everyone else had gone, except for the clean up crew. Blazer pressed the call button for the elevator.

They all kept looking around at each other, smirking. Suddenly he elevator dinged, and the doors slid open, to reveal a younger girl inside. "Is this the..." She started, as they all turned to look at her. "Forum Seminar is over." Matt said, and stepped onto the elevator. Everyone followed him on and Lara pressed the first floor button.

"Wait a minute. You all look familiar." The girl muttered. Kristy turned. "We're all best friends from a forum..."

"Awesome. What's the name of the forum?" The girl asked. "Forum of Fear." Blazer replied. The girl's eyes grew big. "Seriously?"

"Yeah... why...?"

"It's Kate! Blazer! Matt! Kristy! Lara! AJ! Rebecca! It's me!"

Blazer looked at her, and his lit up suddenly. "Kate!" They suddenly hugged each other. Suddenly the elevator shuddered and stopped moving. The lights went out. "Is everyone alright?" Matt asked. "Fine." Everyone said. AJ reached around and opened up the emergency phone. "Shit. It's dead." She muttered.

"So we wait..."

**_2 hours later_**

"Yeah, so I'm a news reporter now. I've written articles for Time Mag too." AJ said. "Wow. So what news stories have you done?" Lara asked. "You know the one on the war on Iraq, where we saw the entire battle with the mercs verses our troops?"

Lara nodded. "That was me. I was the camera operator, because the actual camera guy got killed."

Matt shook his head. "That story had serious up close shots of the mercs..." He said. "Yeah..." AJ murmured, smiling.

"You did that?!" Kristy hissed, surprised. AJ just laughed. "Yeah. That was all me. You should have seen every news paper, TV channel in all nations come after me, offering every kind of benefit you can think of to get me to work for them."

We all chuckled. Blazer looked over at me. "So, Matt here, was telling me that he's head of the radiography department at the Florida hospital in the US."

Kristy cocked an eyebrow. So did AJ, Kate, and Lara. "Really? Wow... that's... big." AJ said. Matt shrugged. "Not really..." He said, blushing slightly. "That's great Matt." Kristy said, smiling. He just smiled back.

Suddenly the power came back on, and the elevator started moving again. Everyone got up from the elevator floor. "It's about time. I'm so hungry!" Rebecca said. Everyone nodded in agreement. The doors to the elevator opened and we all stepped out. "This isn't the first floor." Kate murmured.

Blazer shrugged. "Power to the elevator got reset, and it's forced to start back at the bottom floor. Must be the basement of the building..."

"Let's have a look around..." AJ said. "Uh... let's just go get something to eat." Matt said, trying to distract everyone from following AJ. But they all followed AJ anyway, as she moved down the hall of the basement. "Dude..." Blazer said, as Kristy entered the next room. She found them staring at a large metal door. "What the hell is that?"

"A blast door, obviously!" Matt said. Kate rolled her eyes. "Well, let's find out." AJ said, smirking as she examined a control panel next to the door. "AJ, wait!" Lara said. It was too late. She pressed a button, and suddenly the large metal doors began to open up, sliding sideways with a loud creak. As the doors completely opened up, they let off a rumble, causing us all to lose our balances. AJ caught her self by grabbing the door frame. There was a loud revving sound.

Matt nodded at her and she looked down at her hands, which had pressed into the control panel. "What did you do this time, AJ?!" Blazer muttered. She merely smiled sheepishly. "Oops?" She said.

Suddenly there was a loud and strong wind that began to pull anything not nailed down to the floor inside the room beyond the blast doors. We didn't have time to react as we were all sucked into the room. We all tried to grab hold of the door frame, but it was too strong to fight. Kristy forced herself around, only to see a large black circle open up on the wall. She let out a scream as they were all sucked into it. As soon as they were all out of sight, the circle closed, leaving the room quiet, dark, and empty.


	2. Chapter 2

_Hello, everyone! First, I want to thank you for reading. I'm glad those of you who are, are enjoying it, and thank you for the review Sarge. Hope you don't mind_ _if I call you that. Second, please, feel free to read and review, and if you find something wrong, or have comments that would better my writing, don't hesitate to put it in the review. Thanks, I hope you stick with Me and Kristy, because this story is just getting started! Enjoy chapter two._

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**Chapter Two**

The light caused Kristy's eyes to dilate slightly larger then normal for a few seconds. She shifted her body around and felt a cold hard surface against her hands causing her to sit up and quickly, when a pulsing pain hit her head making her groan and laid back down on the cold surface. Staring up past the bright light, She ran her hands down her face, annoyed.

She for one, hated pranks. And a prank that included pain in her head and a bright light, was even worse! She sat up, slowly this time, and looked at her surroundings. The room was dark, with only a dim light on one side of the room. The walls were what looked to be a heavy metal, and there was a large steel door, that looked totally out of this world. But it was what she was wearing that caught her attention. It was a white tunic, and tan pants. Not what she'd been wearing last she remembered. Only Matt could get hospital scrubs. She snorted in an un-lady like way and then chuckled at the thought.

Suddenly the entire room rumbled. Kristy felt her heart rate increase as she moved slowly toward the door listening for any sound or movement. She was only steps away from it when suddenly the round latch in the center of the door released and the door slid into two halves, away from each other. There in the door way stood a being. It was dressed in heavy white armor. The helmet looked so familiar.

Suddenly the being saluted. "Ma'am. Glad to see your awake." It said. No…_ h__e _spoke, she corrected herself_._ The voice was so familiar. Kristy felt a shiver run down her spine and she awkwardly saluted the man in white armor. "Where am I?" She asked slowly, the words coming one at a time. The trooper lowered his arm, which rested on a large rifle. Suddenly Kristy realized what she was looking at. She glared at the man. "That's real funny, Matt. Pull a prank on me the first time we meet. I should have expected no less from you!" She said, folding her arms across her chest. Now she was just pissed off.

The soldier just stood there. "Take the helmet off." The solder did as told, and Kristy felt her heart practically stop and her face drop. The man in the armor wasn't Matt. It was… "Jango Fett?" She blurted out. The man shook his head. "No Ma'am. While I look just like the infamous bounty hunter, I am merely a clone of him. CT-2235/1422 at your service!" He saluted again, helmet neatly tucked under his arm.

A million questions hit Kristy like a ton of bricks. They ranged from 'what the hell was going on' to 'I'm so going to kill Blazer and Matt when I find them'. She really couldn't help it. It was all too surreal. "And to answer your question, Ma'am. You are on the Republic Assault Ship 'Dark Wave'.

Kristy ran her left hand down her face, not believe what she was hearing. She lowered her hand and looked squarely at the Clone Trooper. "How did I get here? My memory is a bit fuzzy, mate."

"You were found unconscious in a drifting escape pod. We're working on trying to ID what ship the pod came from, which now I hope we can do, considering it's highly unlikely you can remember anything."

Kristy rolled her eyes suddenly. She settled on blaming the bright light that woke her up for the attitude problem she had suddenly. '_Stupid lights' _she huffed to herself.

* * *

The thunder made Matt open his eyes. He dug his fingers into the ground, and came up with wet dirt. He sat up, and felt a throbbing headache come on instantly. He grabbed his head, before realizing it, and soon had marks of dirt all over his face and in his hair. He looked at his hands, disgusted with himself.

He stood up, and wiped his hands off on his kakke pants. If he'd know he was going to be shoved out into the woods, he would have worn jeans and his boots. "Damn it all." He looked around and saw nothing but tall, tall, tall, thick trees, which layered the hilly, swamp-like landscape. Where the hell was he? And how the hell did he get there?

He shook his head and looked left, then right, trying to figure out which way to go. It all looked the same. He shrugged and started left, seeing as that was the hand he used to write with anyhow. It could never fail him. He found himself going uphill, which took more energy then he had, but some how he made it to the top.

He looked over the horizon – and dropped to the ground when he saw tan metal figures marching in formation, inside a small camp at the bottom of the hill. He crawled forward, and stared down at them, confused. _Robots? I'm going to kill Blazer! _He though to himself. He got up in a crouch and swiveled on his feet, only to be forced flat on the ground, a gloved hand placed over his mouth and a gun placed against his temple.

Someone in white armor held a finger up to their voice plate of the helmet. Matt nodded, taking the hint. The trooper lowered his hand. "Who are you?" He hissed. A million thoughts raced through Matt's mind to that question. "Matthew Smith."

"What are you doing here?!"

"I… I'm not sure."

"Don't make me blast you!"

"I said I don't know!"

"Let him go, Trooper." A female voice called. Matt blinked as the Clone trooper released him and put his blaster away. He saw a glint of blue skin as a female walked up and offered him her hand. But this wasn't any ordinary female. She was blue. And she had strange tails on the back of her head, which went down her back and flowed freely.

Her mere clothing covered her breasts and her lower torso and pelvic area. "I am sorry for my companion's mistreatment." Matt stared up at her, hoping to god he wasn't drooling. He took her hand and she pulled him up to his feet. "Can you tell me what is going on? Where am I?" He asked her. She looked at him. "My name is Aayla Secura. I am a Jedi Knight with the Galactic Republic. My troopers and I are on a mission to shut down that separatist base down there. And as for where you are at… the planet is called Kashyyyk."

Matt looked at her, then at the clone troopers that were behind her. "Kashyyyk?... S…separatist base?" He muttered. She nodded. "Are you alright?" The commanding clone trooper asked. Matt nodded quickly. "No… I'm just a little light-headed. I'll be fine."

* * *

The throbbing in Blazer's head was terrible. He sat up and looked around. The room he found himself in was a small room. Almost like a… jail cell. The red energy barrier that was across the exit was a great indicator of that. He stood up, and looked through the barrier and saw a man in white armor sitting at a console.

"Hey! You!" He hissed. The man looked up at him. Then he looked down at the console and pressed a button. "He's awake." The man stood up and put an oh-so familiar helmet on. Blazer's jaw dropped open. "You… you're a clone trooper."

The trooper walked over and nodded. "That's correct. And you are?"

"Uh… everyone calls me Blazer."

"Blazer, eh? Why's that?"

"Well, I'm not really sure. It was just a forum user name and it just sort of stuck to me…" The trooper cocked his head to the right. "What's a forum?" Suddenly the doors next to the console slid open and a man in a military uniform, but not armor, walked in, flanked by two more clone troopers. He made his way over to the first trooper.

He nodded at Blazer. "Gee, I feel like I should salute you or something." He muttered sarcastically. The man narrowed his eyes at him. "My name is General Cortana. You are aboard the Republic Assault Ship Devastator. Would you care to explain why you were unconscious in the ship we pulled in?"

"Unconscious? Ship? No. I have no clue. The last thing I remember…" Blazer thought for a moment. "I don't remember anything…" He said, frowning. The troopers exchanged a look with General Cortana, who frowned too.

* * *

AJ's vision was blurry at first, as she opened her eyes, and looked up. She found herself sitting in a chair, that overlooked a complicated console. She looked to her left, and then to her right, and quickly found Kate slumped over in the seat next to her.

She stood up and checked her pulse. She was still alive. AJ let out a sigh of relief, only to look out the window and see stars. Lots and lots of stars. The stars were moving by very, very fast. "Uh-oh!" She muttered flatly. "What…" She looked down at Kate, who was waking up.

"Uh, don't panic!" She told her, sitting back down and examining the console. Kate sat up straight, now fully awake and seeing where she was. "Uh… AJ! Why are we in space?!" She asked. AJ shrugged. "How should I know?! Help me fly this thing!"

Kate shook her head. "How am I supposed to help?!" She cried. "Well, you know… your into star trek and all…"

"First off, I hate star trek and it's my brother who's into star wars!"

"Well, that's just great!"

Suddenly the stars suddenly came to a stop, as did the ship. In front of them, was a large, bright red planet, along with a few dozen star ships, all firing away at each other madly. "Whoa! Abort! Pull up!" Kate screamed. AJ grabbed what looked like a joy stick and pulled it backwards. At that movement, the entire ship did a flip.

Both girls let out a scream before AJ let go of the controls. Suddenly they saw a small swarm of little robot fighters coming at them. "Holy shit!" AJ screamed, jamming the control stick forward, sending the ship straight down. The droid fighters flew overhead, somehow missing them completely.

"What the hell is this?!" Kate exclaimed. "Look out!" She screamed, causing AJ to take the ship to the left, as two strange looking triangle-ish looking ships flew past, in pursuit of the droid fighters.

"Somehow, I just never saw myself documenting a space battle!" AJ muttered. There was a beeping from the console. "Look! Press that button!" Kate hit the button. "This is General Obi-Wan Kenobi. Please identify yourself."

"Uh… Ajmina Kahn."

"Katelynn Lingle."

"What are you doing in this sector? Holonet News has been warning to keep out because of separatist activity."

"The hell if I know! I didn't ask to be here!"

"I'll have my command ship pull you in, then."

"Please do!"

* * *

The room was brightly light, mainly because of the sunlight. Lara stretched out and yawned. She stared up at the ceiling, which seemed different. She shrugged it off and got up out of the bed, and looked around the room. It was surprisingly clean, which was strange.

She walked over to the window and looked out – at a massive waterfall. It was intense and beautiful at the same time. She went over to the door, and opened it slightly, and peeked out. There was a dimly light hall. She moved out into it and followed it to some stairs. She went down them, and went through a doorway, to find several people – including Rebecca – eating breakfast.

"Ah, your up!" Rebecca said, smiling. An younger woman smiled at her. "Hello." She stood up from her seat at the table. "I'm Padme Amidala. You must be Lara?"

Lara looked from Rebecca to Padme. "Yes, that's correct, though I prefer to go by Shadow." Padme smiled. "Shadow it is." She took a seat back at the table and waved to a chair next to Rebecca, where a plate of fruit was waiting.

"Rebecca was just telling me that she doesn't know how she got here."

"And where is here?" Lara asked. Padme smiled softly and replied.

"Naboo."


	3. Chapter 3

_Hello, everyone! First, I want to thank you for reading. I'm glad those of you who are, are enjoying it. I hope you enjoyed chapter two. __Second, please, feel free to read and review, and if you find something wrong, or have comments that would better my writing, don't hesitate to put it in the review. Thanks, I hope you stick with Me and Kristy, because this story is just getting started! Enjoy chapter three._

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**Chapter Three**

"We're currently on our way to Kashyyyk, to aid General Secura and her Clone platoon in the removal of a separatist base. The Wookiee scouts have reported that there's a small droid factory down in the depths of the jungle." Captain Sym said as he walked down the corridor with Kristy.

"Is there something I can do?"

"Sorry?"

"Like a job. You know…" She chewed her lip, thinking of a way to attempt to explain the situation to him. He was a nice man from what she'd read into it thus far. But she'd only known him an hour or so.

"Well, I suppose I could find you something. But the problem is, you're a civilian. I'm not in the business of putting normal folk like yourself into harms way. That's what the clones are for."

That was it. Kristy closed her eyes. She had to tell him. He'd never understand her point without the truth. "Can I speak to you in your office?"

He nodded slowly and beckoned her to follow. They got into a turbo lift ad went up a few levels. They went down the corridor and made a right and went into his office. He motioned for her to have a seat. "Is something the matter, miss Harrington?" He asked, sitting behind his desk, as she took a seat in front of it.

She took a breath. "What I'm about to tell you… is going to be hard to believe."

He cocked an eye brow and leaned forward onto his desk. "I've got quite an imagination, miss. I'll consider what you have to say with an open mind. I promise."

Kristy nodded and swallowed once. "I'm not from this galaxy." She said flatly. Sym leaned back into his chair. "What do you mean?"

"I mean… I got pulled through some sort of black hole, and I woke up in your medical bay. The last thing I remember is being with a group of friends, who accidentally activated a portal of some kind, and then I woke up here. I honestly don't know how else to put it. But I have reason to believe that they may be out there… somewhere…"

Sym seemed to be studying her. He rubbed his temple with his right hand and sighed. "Provide me with a description of your friends. I'll put out a watch for them throughout the republic."

A smile grew on Kristy's face. "Thank you!" She said, wanting to jump up and down. Sym nodded for her to calm down. "In the mean time, I'm going to have to place you under training."

He leaned in and pressed a button on his desk. "Yes, Captain Sym?" A robotic voice responded. "Send for Omega please."

"As you wish."

* * *

Matt sat down as the clones took out some rations and handed some to him. He looked at them, unsure. But they nodded. "Eat. You'll need your strength." The lead trooper said. He nodded and put the cube-shaped rations in his mouth and chewed. It was tasteless, but enough to fill his belly.

"So what is the plan?" He asked. Aayla looked at him. "We're currently waiting for an extra battalion of clone troopers. They should be here within a few hours."

"Can I help with anything?" He asked. "No." The lead trooper said. Matt frowned and looked up at Aayla. "I'm sorry. I can not allow you to come into battle with us. You are a mere civilian. I can not risk your life."

He sighed. "I figured as much."

"You still haven't explained how you got here. We're don't find many… beings like yourself down in the underworld of Kashyyyk."

"You spend a lot of time down here? I always thought it was too dangerous down here." One of the clones started to laugh. The lead trooper looked over at him, and he quickly shut up. "So, you think you're a funny guy. Perhaps you'd do well with a blaster."

"I don't think of myself as funny, mind you. More of a wise guy. And I think I'd do fine with a blaster."

The troopers all looked at each other. "Do you?"

Suddenly Aayla looked up and glanced around. We all looked at her. "What is it?" Matt asked her. "Ah, great…" The lead trooper muttered. "Droids. They know we're here." She said suddenly.

At that moment, there was an explosion, followed by a familiar mechanical gay voice. "Open fire on the republic scum!"

The clones moved fast, drawing their blasters as laser blasts shot at us. There was a flash of blue as Aayla deflected the blasts with her light saber. She motioned to Matt. "Get behind me!" She shouted. He jumped up and raced behind her as the droids came into sight. "Captain!" She shouted to the lead trooper.

"I'm calling to check on that battalion." He replied, firing his blaster.

* * *

Niner led Omega squad down the corridor, causing all the clones and personnel in their path to stop and stare. They had be specially ordered to report to Captain Sym's office ASAP. It was probably another mission. Rumors had been going around that General Secura and her platoon was stuck on Kashyyyk and waiting for an extra battalion.

The commandos passed through a door and looked at the droid secretary for Sym. "Omega Squad, reporting for duty." Niner said. The droid nodded. "You may go on in. He's expecting you."

They did so, and found Sym behind his desk, talking to a young woman. "Captain. You wanted to see us?"

"Yes! Niner. Thank you for coming so soon." Sym stood up, and so did the young woman. "Kristy, I'd like to introduce you to Omega Squad. "Niner, Fi, Atin, and Darman."

Kristy had a slight grin on her face. "It's nice to meet you."

Sym nodded. Fi winked at Kristy. Atin gave him a look, while Niner gave Sym a questioning look. Darman kept looking at his chronometer. "It's nice to meet you, Kristy." Niner said. "I need you boys to train her. As fast as possible."

"No offense, Captain. But Combat training takes several years before anyone can ever be even let out into a training simulation, not to mention the actual combat field." Atin argued. Fi chuckled and gave his brother a playful push. "Oh, come on, Atin. Give the girl a chance. She might be a fast learner."

"It'll be done, Captain." Niner said suddenly, shutting Fi and Atin up quickly. He didn't care for the arguing between team members. Orders were orders. Sym nodded. "I'm glad to hear it. Please keep me apprised." He turned to Kristy and nodded. "They're in charge now. They'll be taking you to Kamino to train you. If you need anything, just let them know."

Kristy nodded. "Thank you Captain."

She turned and followed the commandos out of the office. As they walked down the corridor, the ship rumbled around them. "What in death's name…" Darman muttered. Suddenly an alarm began to blare. People all around them began to run around, rushing for their stations.

"I think, it's time to go." Niner muttered.

* * *

The blaster bolts continued to rain down on Aayla, Matt and the clones. The clones were firing continuously at them, but when one droid went down, it seemed like 10 more replaced it! "General Secura! I think it's best that we retreat!" The clone leader said.

Aayla nodded. "Go. I'll cover you all." She said, her light saber a blaze of blue. Matt watched the clones start to fall back. He started to follow them, but heard a clanking sound. "Freeze, republic scum!"

He turned around, and held his hands instinctively. Suddenly the droid went flying backwards screaming. "Ahhhhhh!" It crashed into a nearby tree and crumbled to the ground. "Why me…?" Suddenly it fell apart.

He stared at his hands. Suddenly a blue hand grabbed his. "It's time to go." She said, pulling him to his feet. They took off running through the swampy jungle of Kashyyyk. The blaster bolts soon stopped after.

"I think we lost them."

Aayla slowed to a stop, as did the clones."Very well. We'll keep moving for another hour. Then we'll camp." She said. They continued to walk, moving silently through the marshy jungle. The clones looked at their chronometers and then stopped. The hour was up. Time to camp. They dug a pit in an area of dry dirt, before collecting wood. Matt followed Aayla as they helped collect it.

"I saw what you did." She said. Matt picked up a large piece of wood and looked over at her. "Sorry?" He replied, dropping the wood as little insects swarmed out of it and taking a step back. "The droid." She said, collecting a piece of wood herself.

"What about it?" He asked. She stopped, faced him, and closed her eyes. She took a deep breath before opening her eyes. "There's something about you. The force. It's strong with you."

Matt chuckled. "Yeah, I wish."

"You used the force to throw the droid into the tree."

"So what? I got lucky." He said. She cocked an eyebrow. "There's no such thing as luck, Matt."

Matt stood there, thinking. He looked up at the sky, which was a bit hard to see with the huge Kashyyyk trees in the way. "The last thing I remember, I was with my friends. Kristy. Blazer. AJ…"

She stared at him now. "Now… I don't even know if their alive, and I find myself in the middle of a galactic war. The only good thing about the whole situation is that you're here to protect me. Otherwise, I would have been dead back there. So yeah… your probably right. There is no such thing as luck."

* * *

Fi switched some gears on the ship, as Kristy boarded it, with Niner and Darman. Atin was in the back, trying to add a booster to the hyperdrive. Kristy was a little hyper. The danger they were in was heavy, and she wasn't used to it.

But it didn't bother the clones. Not one bit. It didn't matter that the Assault ship they were on was being barraged by a CIS flagships. Not at all. She took a seat next to Fi in the co-pilot's seat. She glanced over at her and smiled. "So, you ready to learn to fly already?" He asked.

She smiled back, shyly, and nodded. "Why not learn now, when the chances of being blown up are high?" She said, and Fi laughed. "I like you. Your sarcastic. I respect that." He said. She blushed. Atin came in with Darman and Niner and they strapped in.

"Are we ready?" Niner asked. Fi nodded and gave a thumbs up. He pointed a button on the console. "Press that, and then pull back on the throttle." Kristy looked at the controls and then hit the button he was referring to. There was a loud humming sound. She pulled back on the throttle stick and the ship lifted up into the air.

"Whoa." Kristy muttered. "Relax." Fi commented. Taking her left hand in his right hand, he moved it onto the control stick. "Hold it firmly, and push forward slowly." Kristy looked up at him and a blush formed lightly against the color of her checks.

She pushed the controls forward, just a bit at a time and the ship shuttered. Kristy swallowed but Fi nodded. "Your doing fine, but once we get out of the bay, your going to have to push it." She smiled uneasily as the ship glided out of the bay. "Punch it." Niner said.

Kristy pushed the controls forward, and the ship shot forward. Fi was punching something into the computer. "On my mark, press that button over there." He said. She held her hand over it while holding the controls forward. The ship rumbled as the enemy flagships fired at them.

Kristy's heart skipped a beat as she waiting for Fi's signal. "Punch it." Fi said. She pressed her hand firmly down flat onto the button and the ship froze for just a mere second before the stars shot past, and became a complete blur.

Fi pushed her in the shoulder playfully. "Not bad, Kay. Not bad at all." He glanced back at his brothers and they nodded in return. She was going to be well trained very soon.


	4. Chapter 4

_Hello, everyone! First, I want to thank you for reading. I'm glad those of you who are, are enjoying it. I hope you enjoyed chapter three. __Second, I'd like you all to know, that Kristy, the one who actually thought up this story, has finally gotten some time off and Kristy's part of the story was written by her, herself. Thus it's become a team effort and I'm glad to call her my friend. So, please, feel free to read and review, and if you find something wrong, or have comments that would better my writing or hers, don't hesitate to put it in the review. Thanks, I hope you stick with Me and Kristy, because this story is just getting started! Enjoy chapter four._

* * *

**Chapter Four**

_Several Weeks Later - Kamino_

The room was dark as Kristy entered it. She switched her visor to night vision mode. There were a row of pillars on either side of the room, which was made of block instead of the standard Durasteel. She glanced around, holing up her DC-17m blaster rifle. It was the commando standard weapon. Her armor was a silver. It had yet to be customized by Kristy herself.

She moved through the darkness into the center of the room, where a flash of lights came on. She spun round, only to see droid dispenser fall from the virtual sky. She loved the hologram training room. She couldn't help but grin behind her helmet. There was a loud crash behind her. SBD dispenser. Suddenly battle droids began to shoot out of the dispenser in front of her. Kristy dropped and rolled behind a pillar.

"Scanning area…"

She took out an EC grenade and armed it. "I got something. Over here." The mechanical droid's voice said. Kristy dropped the EC at her feet as the droid came around the corner. She rushed forward, sliding between the 5 droids that had appeared. The lead droid looked down. "Uh-oh." The charge exploded from the EC, destroying the systems of the droids.

There was a blast from behind her. She turned and fired at the SBD that had targeted her. It was huge. But she was used to it. She reached around, still firing the rifle with one hand, and took out a det pack. She placed the pack on the droid dispenser. She punched in a code, and it flashed green.

The SBD took aim with it's cannon. She'd have to time it just right…

The blast came forward. As it crossed the half way point of the room, Kristy leaped to the side, and rolled as the blast hit the det pack, causing it to explode, destroying the dispenser. She looked up, and saw the droid changing his aim.

She leaped up, and swapped out her rifle attachment with the anti-armor attachment. It only took her 2 seconds. The droid readied it's cannon. Kristy loaded her launcher. The grenades fell at the droids feet. Kristy fired, knocking the droids upper part away completely. The grenades exploded, taking the droid dispenser with it.

She breathed a sigh of relief, and moved to the next door.

The darkness surrounded Kristy as she laid in her bunk. She was afraid to close her eyes. She kept seeing her friends. Matt, Blazer, Lara, AJ, Kate, Rebecca. But she kept seeing other visions too. They were of pain, and danger. A dual of something more then just enemies. But of brothers. It was a hellish dream to be blunt.

So she just laid there, staring up at the ceiling, listening to the heavy rain of Kamino pounding on the windows. The training the clones were giving her was heavy. Before the day was over, she was exhausted.

It had been a few days since her last dream or vision; they were all becoming a little infused. Rubbing her temples she swung out of bed. Kristy's powers were growing and they were becoming hard. Too hard. At least her training with clones was almost complete she had become a very skilled fighter, not only that her skill with a blaster was better. She smiled to herself well it was in her blood both her grandfathers were very noble fighters in the navy and army.

Fully dressed, she exited the room to get some breakfast, if it could be called that. Slop was a better word for it. A few minutes later Niner sat down opposite her at the table, She wouldn't call him her friend but they always from now on had each other's back.

"I know you want to be out on the battlefield, with your brothers." Kristy spoke to Niner looking at her food. She knew he was looking at her when he spoke.

"We are all in one piece, and gaining new skills training you... and..." Niner trailed off, Kristy laughed "So your completely bored then."

Niner chuckled with her "Yeah, basically."

The others joined them shortly after, the all sat in a comfortable silence, while Omega ate, Kristy really didn't trust the food so she ate what she needed.

"Well i think we should head down to the training simulator soon…" Fi started. Kristy wasn't really paying attention, she was a people watcher, and something had just caught her eye.

"I don't think that will be happening today Fi." The squad looked at her, she continued still not looking at any of them "Someone is coming over here with a message, and its not for me." She said, getting up from the table to clear away her stuff.

* * *

The door opened with a hiss and Matt walked through, and entered a brightly lit room. He looked around at the clone troopers, working like mad as they loaded weapons and tools onto gunships. Aayla walked up behind hm, and touched his shoulder. "Follow me." She whispered. Matt followed her up onto a catwalk and she led him into a dimly lit room. He saw why.

There were a few Jedi standing around a holo-map of systems. Aayla walked up to the holo-map and studied it. Matt came up next to her and listened as the Jedi went on with the war update. "Master Secura and her platoon shall investigate the Ryloth system. We believe that General Grievous is hiding there." Master Windu said.

"If I find him, I shall engage him and take him into custody." Aayla said. Matt looked up at her. "I will be taking Matthew with me." She said as if she could feel his stare. Then again, she was a Jedi. She knew when to deflect a blaster bolt with her light saber. Of course she knew He was staring at her.

"No. Matthew should remain on the Assault ship in orbit. This mission is far too dangerous." Windu muttered, as if he thought Matt couldn't here him.

"Master Windu, I must disagree. Matt…"

"… is not that well trained yet. It's only been two weeks. True training takes a lifetime."

Aayla sighed. "Very well Master. I shall ready my platoon." She bowed once and then turned and started for the door. He turned and followed her. "Master Secura." Matt called as they walked across the catwalk.

He caught up to her and she glanced over at him as they walked. "What is it?" She asked. His face went blank. "I just wanted to thank you." She stopped and looked at him, confused. "For what?" She asked. He looked down at the floor and then back at her. "For sticking up for me back there."

"I…" She looked away and started walking again. She had things to do.

* * *

Kristy walked down the brightly lit corridor, checking now and then to make sure she wasn't followed. She punched the code into the door, it gave a slight hiss and opened. Working quickly, Kristy downloaded all the information she could from the main computer, Someone had to know something about why they came through the portal. Also she wanted to save the clones. Aging far more quickly that the average man wasn't fair to them.

Kristy jumped, when Fi slapped her on the back. "Good training session today Kay, You may be even as good as me some day." He joked lightly. "Ah, and we can all hope that you attain a proper sense of humor, but its probably false wishing." Kristy sighed over dramatically. "A lost cause I fear." Placing the back of her hand to her forehead.

"HEY!" Fi exclaimed, grinning and crossing his arms across his chest. They both looked behind them when they heard someone laughing. Atin walked up to them. "She's got a point you know." He said to Fi.

* * *

Matt stared out the viewport, trying to clear his mind. He was trying to make sense of what was going on with Aayla. She was a Jedi. No Jedi had ever acted like that except for Anakin. At least from what he could remember from his knowledge of the universe. Maybe it was just his imagination.

He turned, only to find Aayla standing there, staring out the viewport with him. "You know, the stars are a beautiful thing, even in times of war. I find myself watching them a lot. Losing my soul in them." Matt glanced back out the viewport, before resting his eyes on her.

"Is… everything alright, Master Secura?" He asked. She looked over at him. "Please, call me Aayla." Matt swallowed. "Yeah. Uh… Aayla."

She nodded softly. "And I'm struggling at the moment, with deep feelings."

"A Jedi isn't supposed to have those kind of feelings."

"That's why I'm struggling with them." She said, bowing her head and looking at the floor. Matt reached over, and touched her arm. Regardless of her species, she was still a beautiful being. "Do me a favor."

She closed her eyes, before looking up at him. "Yes?"

"Go get Grievous. I'll be here when you get back."

* * *

Kristy sat on her bunk looking at the door, Counting backwards "5...4...3…" She flipped off the bed and moved to the makeshift bookshelf she had created. Looking at nothing in particular, she continued to count. "2...1." The door slid open with a hiss and Fi walked in. She smirked at herself. She was getting good at this prediction thing.

"Niner wants us all in the debriefing room." A frown formed on her face.

"Me as well?" Kristy quizzed.

"Duh, yeah, why else would I be here?" Fi mocked.

Kristy lightly punched his arm as she walked passed him "Because, you are a nosey clone." She laughed.

Fi snorted "Your one to talk, little hacker, I heard what you did!" She looked at him, surprised. "You what?" He merely winked at her. "Don't worry. I've got your back."

* * *

Matt stood on the bridge, listening to the comm of Aayla and her Platoon. Her ship had just touched down and they had already sighted battle droids. Matt paced the floors, his mind racing as the captain and clones listened. "We've been sighted. Engaging droids!" Aayla confirmed. Matt turned and stared at the comm system, listening to the blaster sounds and the hum of Aayla's light saber. The captain looked up at me. "Apprentice?" He said. Matt looked up at him. "Sorry? I'm not an apprentice."

"Right. I apologize. Would you mind informing the Council that General Secura has located the droids?"

He nodded. "Of course." He turned and walked off. Going through several corridors, he found the communications room. He entered the Jedi Temple's comm channel and waited. Suddenly a Hologram of Jedi Master Yoda appeared. "Hmm. Master Secura's companion, you are? Have news do you?"

Matt nodded. "Aa… General Secura and her platoon have located the enemy, and have engaged them."

Suddenly Matt's personal comm buzzed. He looked up at Yoda. "Please excuse me for a moment." He answered it. "Smith."

"General Secura's located Grievous. She's engaging him now. We lost contact just a few seconds ago."

Matt felt his heart rate increase suddenly. "What?!" He exclaimed, regretting the word as it flew out of his mouth. He immediately closed the comm down and turned to Yoda. "Forgive me, Master Yoda. I just received word that General Secura has engaged General Grievous."

"Very good, this information is. But, have things to discuses with you and Master Secura, we do. Do this, we will, when she returns with Grievous." The comm went off, and Matt closed his eyes, suddenly feeling guilty. He knew what was about to come… and it was all because he couldn't keep his mouth shut and his emotions in check.

Suddenly the ship rumbled. He tore through the room, and quickly entered the corridor. Clones were racing by. Matt grabbed one by the arm. "Soldier! What's going on?" The trooper nodded after his brothers. "We're under attack. The CIS Flagships have surrounded us."

They all sat round the boring cold table, well it was in Kristy opinion. The squad all sat with their helmets in their laps, Darman was typing something in his data pad.

"You will board the cruiser Nighthawk and further instructions will be given there." The clone adviser spoke. The hologram wavered a bit. "I have a different debriefing for Kristy." The squad looked at each other.

"I'm guessing that our queue to leave then." Atin spoke. The door hissed behind them.

The adviser turned to Kristy. "It has been... requested by the Jedi council that you gather as much information on your fellow peers. We lost contact with some a while ago and fear they have gone rogue."

Kristy crossed her arms "So you want me to spy for the Jedi then?"

"Do you understand and accept your mission?"

"I do… and yes."

The hologram fizzed and then the light faded from it. Kristy huffed and left the room to nearly run into Fi.

"Erm.. Squads waiting Kay." He turned and walked towards the exit and the waiting shuttle. She smirked to herself and followed.


	5. Chapter 5

_Hey Everyone. Sorry for the long delay between chapters. I recently got my Registered Medical Assistant Certificate in the mail and am now looking for a job. Between that, and Online classes, I've been a little busy. Kristy and I have been working on this when we both had spare time. Anyway, here it is, Co-Written by Me, Matt Smith, and Kristy Harrington: Chapter Five: Portal of Darkness! Enjoy. Please Read And Review! Thanks!_

* * *

**Chapter Five**

"So… We're saving a Jedi master and her crew then… sort of..." Kristy trailed off. Fi looked at her and shook his head. "You weren't listening were you?" He muttered angrily. Kristy scratched the side of her cheek, not looking at him directly. "Erm... no… but I had a good reason."

"Save it Kay. Master Secura and her fleet, have come under attack, we're saving the day." He said, placing his helmet on so the last bit was though audio. Kristy nodded then stalked off; she wasn't in the mood for the wise guy Fi at the moment.

Niner bristled into the debriefing room a few minutes after Fi had left. Kristy looked up at him. "What's up with you?"

"We aren't the only commando team on this mission..." He muttered darkly, mostly to himself.

"Delta... I'm guessing."

Niner glanced at her with his helmet on.

"Yeah."

"Don't worry Atin wont lose it on a mission… just keep Sev away from him." Kristy spoke over her shoulder before she left.

The jump to hyperspace was a quiet one; Kristy knew that some of these fine men wouldn't come back. That was war though. She had to live with the fact that she would have to kill men, droids didn't bother her… the men part did.

* * *

The ship rumbled again as Matt rushed through the corridor, blaster in hand. Clones ran past, as another alarm went off. "Warning! We're being boarded by droids!" The captain's voice rang through the ship. Matt closed his eyes. Straight down the corridor, he saw a docking hatch. He raced toward it. He hit the controls, but before he could activate the blast door, the standard door blew open.

Clones at the other end fired as droids began to pour out, and return the fire. Matt found himself in the thick of it, and began to rip droid heads off. As he came through the crowd of droids, he saw something he didn't expect to see. At least not up close. It was Count Dooku.

He turned to the clones. "Keep everyone out here! I'll handle this."

He blasted the controls to the door, causing it to close and lock. The room was quiet, as Dooku walked forward and smiled. "You have no idea why you are here…do you?"

Matt glared, and holstered the blaster. It would be useless in the fight that was coming. "Maybe I do. Maybe I don't. But I know one thing. I can't let you leave." He reached down to his belt and took out a cylinder device.

Dooku glared. "Foolish. I was asked to take you in alive… if possible." He took out his light saber and activated it. "Over my dead body." Matt shot. Dooku half smiled. "If you wish." Matt activated his light saber, and the glow of the silver blade stopped the red blade of Dooku's with a flash and a sizzle.

"Hmm, you are strong. Secura's taught you well!" He pulled back, and swung underhanded. Matt quickly countered his attack, and moved his blade up in a quick wave of his own attack. Dooku was quick to counter it as well.

"Perhaps my master was wrong in his plans. Perhaps it should have been you he converted!" Matt held his blade up in a defensive stance. "That plan would have failed."

"I don't think so. If it had not been for Master Secura, it would have been flawless!" Suddenly he held up his hand and Matt felt his airway close up and his body floated up in the air just a bit off the ground.

"You don't even know the power of the dark side, boy!"

The doors behind Dooku opened up and a dark figure in a cloak walked in slowly. It slowly looked up, revealing only the mouth at first, which was twisted in a dark smirk. Then the entire face was reveal as it took its hood off.

Matt's face went twisted in a mix of fear, dread, and sadness. "No…" Matt whispered to himself.

* * *

Flicking though her data pad she mentally took as much information as possible that had been 'acquired' from Kamino's main computer. A lot of it she could grasp, some however, was like reading numbers that made up a …code. She stared up from the pad, if you wanted to keep something secrete then, you would put it into a code.

Kristy thought a moment; the de-aging formula was a code of DNA structure that showed which amino acids had been modified to speed up the bodies' growth. She saved what data she could, and backed it up on a memory drive. Smiling at her break through, she was one step closer to saving them. But looking out the view port, she saw her small victory was crushed. _One step further from home_. She thought as she watched the blur of stars.

Darman walked up behind her "Credit for your thoughts" He asked gently. Kristy didn't look at him; she didn't want to get his hopes up "I think I have found a way to stop the acceleration for you guys."

Darman held his breath for a minute before Kristy continued quickly "No it isn't some sick joke, I wouldn't do that to you guys…" Darman silenced her by placing his hands on her shoulders and shaking her a little. "Well that's the best news I've heard in a while." He laughed walking off.

Kristy shook her head "Clones." She muttered

She felt the ship slowing down the squad walked up to her. "This is were the fun begins then?" Kristy mentally slapped herself; _damn quote stealer now_, she huffed. "Don't worried the best trained you" Fi quipped. Darman had been speaking to him then. _They are a squad Kristy of course they speak to each other._ Now she was answering herself, it was official she had lost it.

The ship came out of hyperspace, someone squeezed her shoulder. Kristy didn't turn to check whom.

* * *

Matt stared at Blazer as Dooku continued to hold him in the air with the Force. He'd released his chokehold however, allowing Matt to talk. He glared at Blazer, who merely glared back. His eyes had changed to a dark blackish red, and his air was jet black, with a small scar running down his face, just along the left eye.

"Well, well. If it isn't Matthew Smith!" He snarled, pacing in front of Matt. "It's a damn shame you are on _their _side."

"Blazer… What the hell are you doing?!"

"More then you ever could imagine. I am more powerful then even Skywalker!"

"You're crazy!"

"You are going to join me."

Matt shifted his eyes to the floor; suddenly saddened by his friend and the path he was choosing. "I can't."

"Then you will die!"

* * *

The battle was nothing like Kristy had prepared for. She sealed her suit. "Kay what are you doing?" Fi asked. "My mission." With that she flipped herself out of the safety zone in to the atmosphere and drifted towards the Republic Assault Ship and landed with a thud.

The door crumbled under the pressure and Matt went flying out and slammed into the wall hard, next to the airlock. He looked up and saw Dooku standing in the foreground as Blazer walked toward him. He grabbed Matt by the throat, one handed, and lifted him into the air and glared at him.

"You should have listened to Dooku!" Blazer hissed, taking out a short light saber...

Kristy ran down the corridor shooting any droids she saw '_Just like the training.'_ Her mind was working overtime. Kristy paused when she saw Matt.

"Matt." Kristy called through her helmet, Matt didn't look at her, and she followed his gaze "BLAZER WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING?!" She said, yelling so everyone was noted to her presence.

Kristy held her Deece steady aimed at Blazer, "Watch it Mate" She edged forward. Blazer tried to use the force on her; however, in her mind the images flashed quickly. She dodged out of the way before he could use it on her. She side kicked Blazer and sent him flying back into the wall.

Dooku rose an eyebrow "Interesting, seeing what others decided moments later, that could be useful." Kristy aimed her Deece on Dooku "Back off Sith" she hissed, backing towards Matt's position. Without looking down she helped him up.

Blazer slowly got up from his position, holding his side. "Bitch." He muttered to Kristy. She smirked "Is that the best you can come up with?"

"It's over Blazer." Matt spoke though gritted teeth "Back up has arrived, with fresh troops and lot more fire power. Give up!"

"Never" Blazer hissed. With narrow eyes, he charged for Matt again. Kristy pushed Matt out of the way and hit Blazer in the face with her Deece. There was a sicken crunch and blood fell down from his nose.

Dooku looked amused with the situation, he folded his arms across his chest. Kristy brought her Deece around again "Don't try it mate."

"Oh and what would that be, dear?" he asked. "Trying to make Matt join your little army."

"And how would you know that? You just got here." He frowned. "I saw it" Kristy gritted her teeth and got ready to attack him. Matt held her back "Wait Kristy." She shrugged him off. "I may not have Jedi powers but I still pack a punch."

To say Blazer looked a little beat up was an understatement; he looked like hell. "Master, what do we do now?"

"Let them have this little victory, I need to consult my master" With that, they fled the ship. Kristy turned to Matt angrily "Why'd you let them go?" Matt let out a sign of relief "Good to see you to Kristy."

* * *

**On the main bridge**

"Well look who decided to show up." Fi spoke to the now approaching Delta squad. "Shut up you di'kut." Sev snapped back. Kristy looked between the two squads.

"Who's the aruetii?" Scorch thumbed over to her, he obviously didn't think that she would understand him. "Her name is Kristy, we had to train her for a few weeks" Niner said to break the tension. She touched her brow lightly "Hey."

Delta just looked at her, till Scorch broke the silence "So… How'd you end up here?"

"Your guess is as good as mine, not the ideal holiday spot is it?!" Delta laughed like one man. Totally different to Omega but they were still a true pod. "Come on Delta's we have to get debriefed." Boss commented and walked towards one of the decks side doors. "Good seeing you again Omega, least we didn't have to save your shebs again eh?" Scorch looked to Kristy "Nice to meet you Kay."

After a short relaxation with Omega mostly involving Kristy trying to teach Fi to play cards, which he didn't quite understand. Kristy got called into the debriefing room, where Delta was still talking to the advisor. The advisor turned to Kristy "Ah good you're here, did you obtain the information asked for?"

Kristy walked up to the computer and inserted her data disk, which she had updated, the advisor nodded for a moment "All the data has been uploaded, the Generals will be pleased." Kristy took the disk out and headed for the door, Scorch ran up behind her. "So have you got a mystery ruyot or something?"

Kristy laughed "No I haven't, I thought it gave me more character though, you think?" Scorch shook his head and giggled, He placed a hand on her shoulder. "Your alright, you know, even if you do hang out with the mongrel squad."

She laughed. "Thanks, not so bad yourself for a loud, obnoxious clone." She said, counting off on her fingers. "You know I would be hurt by that statement, if I didn't know you were joking!" Scorch looked around when Fixer shouted something to him "Alright I'm coming! Till next time Kay." He bowed a little and left.

* * *

**A little while later…**

Kristy had seen it in a vision, so she knew Fi was coming over to annoy her. Flicking through her data pad a shadow fell across the screen. "Hello Fi, oh by the way get the look off of your troan!" She spoke without looking at him. "And what look would that be?" He sat down besides her, glancing at him she smiled.

"The 'I am mad at you' look." He face registered shock. "I'm not mad…" Trailing off he scratched the back of his head. Kristy laughed. "Fi, is it just me or you a bad liar?" It was his turn to laugh, "You're right, so what did Scorch want?" he quizzed.

"Oh, being nosey mostly." Kristy looked at him. "Must be a clone thing." Fi pushed her playfully. "Very funny Kay!"

"I know! I'm hilarious!" She smirked. Fi turned serious again. "Can you see what's in my vencuyot?" Kristy closed her eyes and rubbed her face with one hand "Fi… I'm not sure how I can do it, or what causes me to see things. Sorry." She gave him an apologetic look.

"Ah." He answered slowly, breathing out he brought back his comical smile "There's always next year!" He laughed. Kristy shook her head and mocked over dramatically "I do worry about you sometimes." She put a hand to his forehead to pretend to take his temperature. "You don't seem hot." Fi swatted her hand away. "Ha, ha funny Kay." Fi stood up and helped Kristy up. "Come on lets go find out what's going on."

* * *

Aayla walked down the corridor, and the Captain came up beside her, matching her speed. "The CIS flagships are retreating. Something scared them off. We don't know what. We were dangerously outnumbered, even with Omega and Harrington showing up."

"I need to speak to Matt." She said. The captain eyed her heavily. She didn't look at him, however and said, "Don't look at me like that. I know my duties."

"I didn't say a word."

"You don't have to."

They made their way through the corridor, and Matt came down the other end. The captain nodded. "I'm probably needed on the bridge." He turned off and left Aayla's side. Matt stopped and waited for her. As she passed, he took the captain's place. "She's here."

"Who?"

"My friend. One of them anyway. I have some news."

"Good or bad?"

"Both. Kristy saved my six. But the bad news is that she saved me from Blazer. He's Dooku's padawan now."

"I know. I fear he's not the only one out of your friend's the Sith may have turned."

"How'd it go with Grievous?"

"He got away. Where's Harrington?"

"Organizing with Omega and Delta squads as we speak."

They entered a room and the door closed behind them. Aayla looked at me. "I have to go to Coruscant and report to the council."

"Is it…?"

She sighed. "I'm not sure. It's hard to see into what the council is thinking."

"Don't waste your life on me, Aayla." Matt said. Suddenly his com link went off. He answered it. "The Squads are waiting for a debriefing." Kristy said. "We're on our way." He closed the com link and touched Aayla's shoulder. "We've got to go."


	6. Chapter 6

Hey.

Sorry about the long wait again. Been busy. Here's Chapter 6. Kristy didn't have time to help me out on this one, so it's all my doing. :) Please Read and Review. Thanks, and Enjoy.

* * *

**Chapter Six**

They all stood, huddled around the holo-map of the galaxy, the planets that were in turmoil were highlighted. That was most of them. The clone advisor appeared in between Delta Squad and Omega Squad as a hologram.

"The Separatist forces are retreating away from Ryloth as we speak." He said. "But, we have a feeling the battle to secure the planet is far from over, because while the CIS transports all left the planet, our scans didn't detect droids on eight of those ships."

Matt looked up and exchanged a look with Kristy. "As you all know, those ships can hold up to 100,000 battle droids, 10,000 SBDs, and 5,000 Droidikas. You do the math as to how many droids are still on Ryloth."

The advisor put his gloved hand to his helmet. There was a moment of silence as we all waited. "General Secura. You have been ordered back to Coruscant as requested by the Jedi Council." Aayla nodded gravely.

"Commander Smith."

Matt looked up at him, confused. "Excuse me?" He said, one eye brow raised. "Chancellor Palpatine of the Republic Senate has ordered you to be admitted to the Military forces for showing great valor and bravery. You will escort General Secura back to Coruscant. The Jedi Council has requested your presence as well."

The advisor now turned to the commandos and Kristy. "Captain Harrington. You will be operating with both Delta and Omega squad on a three part operation on Ryloth. You main objective, is to located the hidden CIS bases. More information will be given later."

He looked around at all of them. "Do you all understand your orders?"

They all saluted. "Orders are confirmed, Advisor." Boss said. The advisor nodded, and they all lowered their salutes as his hologram faded away. Everyone seemed to relax suddenly, and Aayla turned and left the room promptly. The commandos turned and gathered in their own squads, discussing something among themselves via their personal helmet comms.

Kristy looked over at Matt as he watched the galactic hologram. She strapped her DeeCee to her side and walked over next to him. "Hey." She said softly. He looked up at her and gave her a sad smile. "Hey." He said, turning and leaning against the console of the holo map. "How are you holding up?" He asked her.

She shrugged. "Well, for one… I'm in the middle of a galactic war in a galaxy far, far away…" Matt chuckled softly. "Are you okay?" She asked. He looked over at her, and smiled. "Sure. Never better." He turned and slowly reached up and brushed a strand of hair from her eyes. "I'm still alive, ain't I?" He commented. She could tell he was lying.

"Captain!"

Kristy looked over at Boss and Niner and the commandos. She looked up at Matt and smiled halfway. He winked at her. "Don't get killed."

She laughed softly and this time it was her turn to wink, as she said, "Hey, didn't you hear? I'm now a deadly trained commando. I think I should be saying that to you." She turned and started over to the commandos.

"Hey, Kay." Matt called to her. She looked back. He seemed to be holding a breath, before he finally nodded to her. She just smiled, and then turned back to the commandos. They left the room, leaving him standing there, staring at the holo map.

* * *

Kristy led the commandos onto the shuttle, which would go down to Ryloth's surface. Fixer patted Kristy on her shoulder and the two went to the cockpit. He took the co-pilot's seat, and she looked at him, confused. "Take the seat, Captain." He said, waving to the chair. She took a breath, said a small prayer, and took the seat.

"Try not to blow us up." He said. She looked over at him and she could have sworn she saw him wink at her from behind his helmet. She started the shuttle up, recalling her training, and before she knew it, she was sending the order for the docking bay doors to be opened.

She guided the ship out with ease and they were on their way. "Let's go search and destroy, shall we?" From a third person stand point outside, the ship took off, heading for the planet.

* * *

Matt stared out the viewport, watching Kristy's shuttle leave the Assault ship and descend to Ryloth's surface. He felt someone watching him. He closed his eyes, and took a breath of the air, which smelled like durasteel and blaster fuel. "Are we ready to depart?" He asked, as Aayla stepped further into the room.

"Yes."

He turned and nodded. "Let's get going then."

* * *

The shuttle landed with a shudder. Fixer looked over at Kristy, as she lowered the boarding ramp. "What?" she asked, smirking. They got up and met the rest of the squad outside. Boss nodded. "Alright. Word from command is that this is to be a covert op. No one knows were here, except for General Secura, Commander Smith, and Palpatine."

"Objective?" Kristy asked. Niner nodded and tossed down a holo-projector. "Intel suggests that the CIS has base locations here, and here."

"Does this op call for explosives?" Scorch asked. Sev muttered something under his breath. Boss nodded. "Yeah!" Scorch cheered. Niner waved his hand. "Pay attention, six-two. Command wants us to go in and confirm the bases. We'll get advanced orders from there."

"Let's get moving then." Kristy said, loading her DeeCee.

* * *

The Jedi Temple was much larger then Matt had thought. Then again, the only time he'd ever seen it, was on a TV screen from the DVD. He followed Aayla and the few other random Jedi escorts into the temple. They boarded the turbo-lift and they found themselves in a long hallway, which led down to a single door. _The Council Room._

Matt looked over at Aayla, but she kept her eyes straight ahead. He could feel the tension as they stepped out of the turbo-lift and moved toward the door. It slid open automatically, and Matt felt his stomach turn end over end as he followed her inside. They stepped into the center of the room, and Aayla bowed. Matt followed her lead quickly, and glanced around at the Jedi Masters in the room.

"Master Secura." Mace Windu said. "It's good to see you alive. When we lost contact with you after you engaged Grievous, we got worried."

Aayla nodded. "I apologize, Master Windu. During the engagement, My comm was disabled by Grievous."

Mace waved his hand. "No matter." He nodded at Matt. "Matthew Smith. Greetings to you." Matt nodded back. "Greetings to you, Master Jedi."

"We have some things to discuss." They nodded to Aayla. She bowed and left the room, leaving Matt standing alone in the center of the room. "We…" Mace started, seeming to try to find his words. "Understand that you and Master Secura have formed a… special relationship."

Matt slowly nodded. "Master Windu, if I may."

Mace looked over at Yoda, who nodded. Mace then nodded to Matt. "Master Secura and I… we do have a sort of connection. I won't deny that. But, I will not allow her to develop feelings for me, if it means compromising her place within the Jedi Order."

"Very well."

Matt stared at Mace, confused. "Another situation to discuss. Master Secura wishes to… train you as her next Padawan. As you know, the Jedi doesn't allow training after a certain age. You are too old…"

Matt nodded. "I understand."

Yoda chuckled. "Quick to settle, you are?"

Matt looked down at Yoda, and shook his head. "I'm sorry?" He said. Yoda pointed one of his fingers at him. "Discussed this already, did we. Conclusion we have come to. Allow Master Secura to train you, we will."

Matt's eyes were wide now. Yoda giggled now. "But. A warning do we have for you. A relationship of love, forbidden it is. If discovered… a sad day for both of you, will it be…" Yoda seemed to almost glare as he said the last part.

* * *

Kristy zoomed her visor of her helmet in, and stared at the droids. She held up two gloved fingers. "Two guards by the front entrance." She said. Sev nodded. "Relax. I'll handle it." His deep voice said. Kristy and the rest of the two squads watched as he replaced the DeeCee blaster attachment with the sniper attachment and aimed carefully. Within 10 seconds, he had fired off a shot, and knocked out the first droid. The second droid looked over. Before it could freak out, Sev had knock it's head off too.

"Alright, let's move it out!" Boss said, waving his hand forward. Everyone packed up their gear and the group began to move quickly over to the edge of the cliff. Everyone tied off their own repel lines and down they went. Kristy hit the ground first, and quickly detached her line and turned to cover the rest of her commando team.

Sev and Darman hit the ground next, and formed up around Kristy, securing the area. As soon as the rest of the commandos hit the ground, They had surrounded the blast door that led into the rock face. Scorch and Darman began to set up explosives. "This should be good…"

They both ducked off. "All set, Niner."

He took out the detonator and pressed the button. There was a loud explosion and dust and dirt went up into the air. Blaster fire opened up from inside, and Fixer took out a handful of EC Detonators and tossed them inside. There was a blast of electricity, and suddenly the blaster fire stopped.

"Move in, go low and high. Take, take, take!" Boss hissed.

* * *

Aayla had been called back into the council chambers with Matt. Mace narrowed his eyes as he looked at both of them. "Master Secura. You wish to take Matthew here… as your apprentice, yes?"

Aayla nodded. "That is correct, Master Windu." She looked over at Matt, with a look that told him she was totally shocked to even hear the question come out of his mouth. Mace leaned back in his seat, and let out a sigh.

"The council has discussed this matter among ourselves and with Commander Smith." He looked over at Matt, and nodded suddenly, before looking over at Aayla yet again. "We have come to the realization that we are loosing more and more Jedi every day because of the War."

He nodded at Aayla. "We grant you permission to train Matthew as your Apprentice." Matt felt his heart skip a beat. He'd already known it, before she was called back in… but he face was in complete disbelief. She quickly bowed. "Thank you Master Jedi. Thank you all." She said. "I won't let you down."

Yoda held up a hand. "More we have to tell you." He said. "Shown experience in combat already, your padawan has. Suggest we do, that you take him directly to the senate to overlook the new vote."

"We fear that the Sith are here on Coruscant already and are preparing to assassinate Chancellor Palpatine. You both are to watch from afar. Make sure this never happens."

* * *

The corridor of the separatist base was dark, and filled with smoke from the explosion. Kristy led the front of the group of commandos as they moved deeper into it. It had been quiet since the front blast doors. She didn't like that fact at all.

They came to another blast door. "Repair. A little ironic, don't you think?" Asked Atin, as he read the sign beside the door. "Fixer, open it." Kristy said. He nodded, and moved to the controls. "Let's see… this is a Trandoshan locking mechanism…"

Kristy looked up at Boss and Niner. "Trandoshan? What in death's name would they be doing here on Ryloth?" Suddenly there was a click. "Lock… unlocked." Fixer murmured. Suddenly the blast doors slide open and a two Trandos leaped out. One tackled Fi to the floor, but he threw it off and Sev blasted it.

The second leaped up, and drew a vibro blade, and kicked at Boss, while swinging the blade at Kristy. She jumped back and blasted the alien in the face, killing it. "Damn lizard…" Boss muttered. He looked her way and nodded. "You okay?"

She nodded. "I'll be fine. Let's keep going."

They moved through the doorway, and moved through the room, quickly finding a balcony. They all looked down, and saw exactly what they were looking for; droids. A few billion of them at that. And they were being activated by Trandoshans. Kristy scanned the area and saw something else. She glared through her visor. "We need to transmit this…now." She said, staring down at Blazer, as he overlooked the Trandoshan's work.


	7. Chapter 7

_Hey everyone. Sorry about the wait for this chapter. It's gotten crazy with my classes. Please read and review, and sorry again about the wait. I'm working on essay after essay, and chapters when I can._

* * *

**Chapter Seven**

Matt stood next to Aayla, as they looked over the entire senate chamber, with the pods flying all over the room, as a debate as to how many more clone troopers were needed. Matt frowned as he looked down at all the different senators crying for a few billion more clones, as if they were a commodity… something to sell and buy. An object and not human beings. It made him sick. Aayla glanced over at him. "You okay?"

He nodded softly. "I'm fine." He murmured. They continued to stare out at the meeting, as one senator cried out. "We need 5 billion more troops! My world is dying!" Matt rolled his eyes. He particularly hated politics.

Something suddenly caught his eye. It was across the other side of the chamber. A hooded figure, was moving through the crowd. He seemed to be in a hurry. "Secura." Matt murmured, nodding toward the figure. She looked at Matt and nodded. "Alright. Now we're getting somewhere."

The two Jedi moved through the crowd, down the hall, and toward the figure. Suddenly he stopped, and narrowed his eyes at the two Jedi. He slowly reached into his cloak. "Son of a bitch, Aayla, he's got a detonator!" Matt screamed, running forward.

Suddenly there was blaster fire. There was two flashes of blue, as Aayla and Matt both drew their light sabers. Matt deflected the first blast, and Aayla caught the second one. It was in that moment Matt was thankful for the light saber. It wasn't his, but merely a spare one until he had a chance to build his own.

Matt looked around, searching for a clear path to the culprit, and almost immediately saw the way. He leaped up onto a table and began to race across it. He put his saber on his belt as he ran and then leaped into the crowd, knocking the person to the ground.

But before he could keep them pinned down, the person kicked Matt backwards, and through a gate that led onto a floating podium for the senate chamber. Flat on his back, he stared at the person as they got to their feet. They lowered their cloak – and Kate stared at Matt. Her eyes had changed to a dark yellow.

She removed a detonator and screamed. Suddenly the detonator was pulled from her hand by an invisible hand. Aayla stood, her blade ready in case Kate pulled anything. But instead of going after Aayla, she put out her hand, and force pushed the controls of the podium, dislodging it from the port.

Then she leaped forward, and landed in front of Matt, as he got to his feet. She pulled a light saber, which was glowing a blood red. "Kate… stop this madness!" He screamed, as he ignited his blue glowing blade. She glared at him, and raised her blade, bringing it down hard against Matt's blade.

The entire chamber audience was watching, and everyone had stopped talking. Podiums began to fly around as everyone scrambled to get out of the way. "Kate… stop!" Matt hissed, as he gritted his teeth, trying to hold his blade steady against hers. "You foolish Jedi!" She screamed shoving him backwards, causing him to hit the controls of the podium. She took a step back, her blade held in an aggressive stance.

"It figures that you'd join the Jedi order!" She hissed. "I never really understood Star Wars and the light side or the dark side. But now…" She held her arms out and let out a dangerous laugh. "This power is so great! Matt… do you love me?!"

Matt narrowed his eyes and shook his head. "No, Kate. I don't love you. Not anymore."

"Then you will die by my blade."

She raised her blade again and Matt brought his up, and they clashed high in mid-air.

* * *

"Advisor, it's Blazer alright. They've got Trandoshans all over the base. I believe we've fallen into a conspiracy bigger then anything before." Kristy said. The advisor's hologram waived a bit, as he nodded. "Alright. Hold back. I don't think any of you can handle him by yourselves. I'll alert the Jedi order to this finding."

He started to turn away, but stopped. "Also, we've receive a report from General Secura. She and Commander Smith were assigned to watch over the senate discussions. There was an attempt to set off explosives."

Kristy looked up at Boss and the commandos, alarmed suddenly. "Don't worry. It didn't et a chance. But According to General Secura, the Commander has engaged the suspect in battle."

"The Chancellor alright?" Fixer asked. The advisor nodded. "He's fine. Genera Secura evacuated him."

"Lady and Gentlemen!" Atin hissed. They all turned to him. "What is it, Atin?" Fi asked. "We've got a few dozen clankers coming this way…"

"Coming? They are already here!" Darman muttered. Kristy looked back at the Advisor. "Sorry. Gotta go!" She closed the comm link and turned as blaster fire opened up. The 8 commandos fanned out, taking up random positions behind rocks and trees. Kristy ducked down behind a large rock and fired her DeeCee blasting a droid's head off. She couldn't help but snicker at it as it let out an "Ah!" and then fell down dead.

Suddenly there was a humming sound. Niner looked up and saw a drop ship flying over head. Trandoshans were being dropped from it. Scorch whistled. "Bugs, incoming!"

Kristy gritted her teeth behind her helmet and fired at the Geonosian that flew down toward her. Bug guts splattered across her visor. It automatically cleaned it's self off. She shook her head. "I hate bugs…"

There was a slobbering curse behind her. She turned and jammed her gauntlet vibro blade into a trando's throat and kicked it backwards. "Damn reptiles…" she cursed. Suddenly there was explosion, and dirt went flying up all over.

Kristy found herself staring up through her visor at the sky, and the drop ships, and the Geonosians. Sev leaned over her. "Uh… Ma'am. You do realize there's a no sleeping on the job policy for us commandos, right?"

"We're surrounded!" Fixer suddenly screamed, his voice pounding her ears.

* * *

The blades clashed, giving off the sizzling sound of heat and electricity. Kate dropped down and tried to trip Matt, but he back flipped onto the controls.. Kate lunged forward, swiping her blade at his legs, only to miss as he leaped off the podium completely and landed on another free floating podium. He stood, and stared down at her as the podium flew straight down to the bottom of the chamber.

He turned and walked away. Out of sight, Kate leaped from the podium, and landed on another, and then began to hop from one podium to the next, climbing back up toward Matt's position. As he started for the exit, she pulled all her energy together, and force leaped in front of him. In a flash he brought his blade out and stopped her blade from taking his head off.

"Kate… you had better stop!" He hissed. "You have anger within you… let it out!" She hissed back. "Whatever you say…" He muttered, and shoved his blade forward, and kicked her backwards into the wall.

"Surrender." He said, pointing his blade at her. She gritted her teeth. "Go to hell." She brought her blade up and suddenly it was a long, fast flash of blue and red as the blades whipped around, one trying to get to it's target, and the other attempting to prevent it.

"You can't win…" Kate murmured.

"Tell me who's in charge."

"Someone more powerful then all of you Jedi combined!"

"A name!"

"Try Skywalker!"

She shoved Matt backwards, and then force pushed him even further. He flew backwards, and hit the railing and flipped over it.

* * *

The rock exploded in front of Kristy as she followed the commandos through the open field, as the droids fired at them with everything they had. They all fired back as they ran for the closest cover – a small village nearby – about 10 kilometers away.

It wasn't too far in general perspective, but when you were being shot at, and the chance of getting blown up by robots were extremely high, it seemed extremely far away. And it didn't matter how fast they ran. It still looked hopeless.

But they all ran forward, turning and ducking as blasters were fired at them. "Damn! Destroyer droids! Scorch!"

"Anti-armor. Coming up! You want bantha sticks with that?"

The ball shaped droids rolled up, and popped out like a cracker jack toy, and shields enveloped them. But Scorch fired off an AA round, destroying them, before they could fire. Suddenly static filled their helmet comms. "Delta, Omega, Captain. This is Gunship Twilight. Coming in to save the day."

"It's about…" Suddenly as the gunship came in overhead, a rocket slammed into it, causing it to explode. "Are you kidding me?" Fi muttered. There was a hiss from within the dust that had been shot up from the crash of the gunship. Blazer walked through the smoke and glared at the 9 commandos. "Surrender." He said flatly.

As the dust began to disperse, the commandos looked around, and saw a dozen destroyer droids, SBDs, and Battle droids surrounding them. Kristy grimaced behind her helmet.


	8. Chapter 8

**Chapter Eight**

Kate slowly walked over to the edge, and looked over the railing, which Matt was hanging onto for dear life. She glared down at him. He still had his light saber in hand. He swung up at her, missing her and hitting nothing but air as she stepped back. "Will you never learn, Matt?" She asked, a grin growing on her lips.

She watched as his only hand which he was holding onto the railing with began to slip. He was losing his grip. She smiled even more. "Let me help you…" She reached out and started to touch his hand, only to back up again as he swung his blade at her head.

He was only wasting his energy. She raised her blade up over her head. Matt squeezed the hilt of his light saber, and let out a hiss. Kate suddenly brought her blade down, and smashed it into another blue blade, which hissed with anger as Aayla looked her in the eye. "That's, MY padawan your trying to kill, youngling."

Kate glared, and raised her blade up, back-flipping away. There was a hiss as she disengaged her blade, and then took off through the door, vanishing. Aayla reached down and pulled Matt up. He wiped his forehead clean of sweat and gave a nod to his new master.

* * *

Kristy walked next to Boss, hands cuffed behind her. Their armor and weapons had been confiscated and they were being led to the brig. The battle droids stopped them in front of the cells, and Blazer walked up to Kristy. He nodded to her. "Kay… what happened? I thought you and I saw eye to eye."

Kristy snorted. "You and I? Eye to eye? Mate, you are full of shit." Blazer glared and pulled his hand back, releasing it across her face, with a sickening smack sound. "How dare you…" he spat, "I am more powerful then you can imagine. More powerful then even the most powerful Sith in the galaxy. You had best learn to show some respect to me!"

"The only respect I have for you… is my DeeCee shoved up your fat ass."

Blazer raised his hand again, and then stopped suddenly. "Throw them in the cells. Get her out of my sight, before I slay her right here!" He shouted at the droids. "Roger, roger." They said their automated response, and marched Kristy and the rest of the commandos into their own separate cells.

Kristy looked out through the static force field and called out to Niner, who was in view. "Niner. Did you manage to transmit the distress code?" She whispered. Niner just nodded as a battle droid walked past. At least one thing had happened that might be good.

* * *

Aayla and Matt rushed into the command center. Clones rushed to their posts, as Master Yoda turned and looked at them as they approached. "Received a distress signal, we have."

Matt narrowed his eyes. "From whom?" He questioned. Yoda frowned, his small mouth, turning downward. "Delta and Omega Squad. Captain Harrington." Matt pursed his lips and Aayla looked over him and closed her eyes. She knew what he was feeling. Fear. For her. She looked at Master Yoda.

"Master, the assassin sent to deal with Palpatine… she was…"

"A former ally of your Padawans?"

She nodded. "That's correct."

"Wish, you do, to uphold a rescue mission for the Commandos, you do?"

Matt stepped forward. "With your permission, yes. We have the location. If what the readout said is true, then you will need Jedi to stop the Sith cultists before the clones can do their duties."

Master Yoda thought for a moment, then gave a nod. "Very well. Assemble several platoons of clones for you I will. Go you must, in advance, and find the Sith. Bring them in, you must…"

The small shuttle was cleared, and Aayla sat in the pilot's seat, with Matt in the Co-pilot's seat. They checked all systems. The clone advisor cleared them, and Aayla brought the ship up into the atmosphere of Coruscant. Now in dead space, Matt activated the hyper drive system, placing the coordinates.

"Here we go."

"Punch it."

From outside, the ship took off, in a matter of seconds, becoming nothing but a speck in a background of specks and stars.

* * *

Kristy watched, as Trandoshan ripped the head off of a frog like creature, and spat it out onto the ground, before devouring the rest of the poor creature. She glared as the Trando looked up at her and gave an evil smile. "What are you looking at, wet skin?!" it hissed in it's native tongue.

Kristy just glared again. "I'm just thinking about how I'm going to rip off your head with my vibro-blade when reinforcements come."

The Trando just chuckled. "No one is coming for you."

"Did I mention, I'm going to do it, personally?" She shot.

* * *

The ship dropped out of hyper space, and Aayla engaged the primary thrusters, which moved the ship down toward the large planet of Ryloth. Matt looked over at her. He wanted to as her what it felt like to come to her species home planet, in the middle of a galactic war. Instead, he just monitored the computer systems as she piloted the ship into the atmosphere.

The clouds were dense. As the ship broke through, an alarm went off in the cockpit. Matt's hands began to move around rapidly, trying to figure out what was happening. "What the hell…?" He murmured. "Fierfek! Droid fighters, times two, 3-o-clock!"

He activated the ship weapons, and took aim, as Aayla calmly continued to pilot the ship. The droid fighters took several shots, and Aayla evaded the shots without breaking a sweat, as Matt locked onto the first fighter, and hit the trigger, sending two blasts of laser energy into the droid fighter, causing it to explode into several pieces.

"One down. One remaining." He muttered. Aayla nodded. "Focus..." she murmured, as he targeted the second fighter. It did a dive, and started to come back around. Matt closed his eyes, and suddenly he saw a flash. The fighter suddenly accelerated forward, instead of coming around completely, and started to head straight for the cockpit.

Matt opened his eyes, quickly adjusted his targeting measures, and open fired, as the fighter dove for the cockpit, only to explode before reaching them. Matt fell backwards into the seat, hands shaking. Aayla looked over at him and they both smiled softly. "Very good."

She piloted the ship around, tracking the commando's shuttle "There." Matt said, pointing out through the viewport. Aayla looked out and nodded to him. "Alright." She put the ship down next to the shuttle.

A quick scout of the commando's shuttle, revealed that there was no one around, and no clue as to who the shuttle actually belonged to, or where they were heading. Matt frowned softly, but Aayla stood with in the shuttle eye closed.

As she did so, Matt examined the ground slowly, and noticed strange footprints, unlike clone boots. More… lizard like. "They've gone that way." She said, as Matt stood up, staring into the distance. He merely nodded. "They know we're here." It was her turn to nod now.

It was a trap. Now they had to spring it.

* * *

The blast doors slid open, and older man who walked next to Blazer nodded, and rubbed his gray beard, as his cape flowed around his body. "The infamous Delta and Omega squads, of the republic army."

Boss stood and glared. "If it isn't the scum bucket of the Sith himself, Count Dooku." Dooku did a double take, and smiled. "You commandos are well trained…" He held his hand out in front of himself, and suddenly Fixer rose into the air, and grabbed his throat, choking.

"But you have no idea how powerful and well trained I am." Dooku smiled again, as Fixer continued to choke. Suddenly there was a shout from behind. "Release him!" Kristy shouted. Blazer turned and began to force choke her as well, until Dooku released Fixer and waved his hand to Blazer. "Enough…" He said, stepping over to Kristy's cell. He smiled softly to her through the force field.

"And you must be the young lass that my Padawan calls Kristy. It's a pleasure, really."

"Let me out, and the pleasure will be all mine." She hissed. Dooku cocked an eyebrow. "Now, now. Don't be so cruel. You are in one of the separatist's most wonderful prisons. Most of them don't have the… accommodations that you have at the moment."

"Oh, you mean most of the time you strip us naked, and leave us on a dirt floor?"

Dooku looked at Blazer. "She is indeed a fast learner."

* * *

As Matt and Aayla walked through the area, stepping over battle droid parts, they scanned the area. There had been drop ships, and Matt had examined a dead Trandoshan body. Blaster marks were all over it's torso.

"They had been here." Matt said. Aayla nodded. "This is where they were captured. We're not far behind."

Matt closed his eyes, nodding slowly. Suddenly there was a flash before him. He saw battle droids enter from both sides, with Droidikas. They were both out numbered. The force would be no help to them this time. Nor would their light sabers.

Matt opened his eyes, and gasped. Aayla touched his shoulder. He turned to her. "30 seconds. You have to go." He spat. She stared at him for a second as he handed her his light saber. She looked up at him, in disbelief. The light saber was like a Jedi's life. They both knew that.

"I'll be right behind you." She said. He blinked and she had ducked off to cover. He stood there, breathing slowly.

Then the droids came. "Don't move!" They said. Matt turned around slowly, as Blazer stepped out, forcing the droids to part ways for him. "Matt! A lovely surprise."

"Yes, a surprise indeed. Did Kate tell you she failed to kill me completely?"

"Yes. I heard of that. Sorry to hear about it. Sadly, I didn't punish her. In fact… I'll reward her, by letting her kill you."

"I see your still the same old Blazer."

"Of course, I'm going to kill all your clone friends in front of you first."


	9. Chapter 9

**Chapter Nine**

Blazer forcefully shoved Matt into the cell, and he ran into the wall, and slid to the ground. The force field was activated and Blazer walked away. Matt picked himself up and walked over to the field. He listened closely, to hear who else was locked up around him.

He closed his eyes, but saw nothing but darkness. He opened them and called out. "Hello? Is anyone there?"

There was quietness for a brief moment, before he heard a familiar voice answer back; "Matt…?"

"Kristy? Is that you?"

"It's me alright. I see you caught Blazer… or… the other way around."

"Don't worry. It's all part of the plan."

"Plan?"

"To rescue you and the commandos."

There was the sound of a shock and Kristy let out a soft "Ouch." And chuckled. "Great job so far, Mate."

Matt just smiled. She was still her good ol' self. He'd never change that for anything. "Trust me." Was all he said. He closed his eyes and suddenly he felt himself hit the floor, backwards.

He saw a flash and there was a flash of blue as Aayla crashed down through the ceiling, knocking several battle droids down in the process. She leaped up and landed in the middle of several Trandos. A swing of her blade took them all down.

She rushed over and jammed her blade into the controls and the force fields went down, releasing the clones, Kristy, and Matt. Suddenly he opened his eyes and saw the hard ceiling. "Matt?! Matt, are you okay?!" He heard Kristy calling.

He climbed to his feet and dusted himself off. "Kay, I'm fine. I've just… been having there strange… visions."

"Visions?"

Matt sighed. "It's hard to explain. But this one was strong. I can tell you it's almost over. We'll be out of here in a few. Be patient."

"What do you mean by a few? Hours? Days?"

Suddenly there was a rumble. Matt peered out into the hall, and saw the ceiling shaking. A group of battle droids walked into the hall, coming towards the cells. Suddenly the ceiling gave way completely, and it crashed down onto the droids, smashing them into a million pieces.

Several Trandoshans came running in from the other side of the room and Aayla leaped forward, flipping through the air, and landed between the Trandos. They hissed at her and she spun her blade around in two swipes, slicing the aliens in two.

She looked over at the cells, and then walked over and raised her blade to the controls of the force fields. Before she could disable them, she was shoved backwards by an invisible force into the wall.

She had barely enough time to get to her feet, before she raised her blade, blocking a blood red blade that Blazer swung at her. "Nice try, Jedi! Rescue is impossible."

Aayla just glared. "You are wrong." She hissed, pushing into his blade. Suddenly there was the sound of loud humming overhead. At that exact moment, clone troopers dropped down through the hole in the ceiling that Aayla had created. Battle droids rushed in and open fired, as Blazer ducked off, knocking Aayla into the wall again.

Kristy scanned the clones, and saw a familiar one. "Rex!" She shouted. The clone commander rushed over. "Get us out. We have to stop Blazer."

Rex nodded. "Yes, ma'am." He aimed his blaster at the controls and fired. Suddenly the force fields dissipated, and Kristy raced out, as Rex handed her a blaster.

Matt was by Aayla's side. "You alright?" asked, panting. He saw her grab her left side as she stood up. "I'm fine. Just bruised." She pulled out his light saber and handed it to him. "We've got to stop him. He's far too strong for a recently turned Sith."

"I agree."

"We're going with you." The two Jedi turned to Kristy and the commandos, who were now armed. They seemed awkward without their armor, but still they all seemed to have that fire of fighting for what they believed in.

"Alright. Let's go."

The group took off in the direction Blazer had, as more of the ceiling crashed down around the battle of droids versus clones.

* * *

Blazer raced through the corridors, as the entire place shook from the force of the battle. As he passed a left turn, Count Dooku came up next to him, matching his pace. "It seems the trap was sprung, but nothing was caught."

"Thanks for the news flash."

"Stay calm, padawan."

"Calm? They deceived us!"

"And I warned you that the Jedi are not to be trusted. Especially former allies."

"I never said I trusted them."

"You should have swept the parameter better. We offer those tools for a reason, Padawan."

They turned a corner and walked up a ramp and entered the docking bay, where a large shuttle was waiting. "Take this shuttle and return to Bespin and wait for further orders."

Blazer nodded, and started up the ramp of the shuttle. Dooku down another corridor, the door closing behind him. Suddenly there was a shout. Blazer looked back, and saw Matt, Kristy, Aayla, and the commandos rush into the hanger. "Blazer!"

Blazer glared, as the ramp closed up and the ship started to rise into the air. Aayla removed a small device from a pouch and force threw it onto the ship's hull before it shot out of the hanger, and into the atmosphere. Matt walked over slowly, and stared after it. Kristy swore. Aayla just sighed, compressing her annoyance for losing the Sith.

The commandos just cursed in mando'a. "Great… now what?" Scorch muttered. Kristy looked at him. "Now we follow him." She grinned.

Blazer stared out the rear view port, laughing to himself as the droid piloted the ship out of the hanger. He turned and started toward the cockpit. There was a clanking sound to his left, from inside a closet. He walked over and tried the door. It was jammed shut. He shoved harder on it, and suddenly it gave way, sliding open.

Before he could blink he saw a young woman, who seemed very familiar, smile at him. "Hi there!" he had no time to react as she pulled her fist back and knocked his lights out completely.


	10. Chapter 10

**Chapter Ten**

The blue hologram waved around as the shuttle bounced up and down rapidly, as it exited Ryloth's atmosphere and entered deep space. Matt, Kristy, Aayla, and the commandos all stood around Master Windu's hologram. "Where exactly are you all headed?"

"The tracking device places Blazer on Bespin."

"City in the clouds."

Windu nodded slowly. "Very well. However, I have no more clone reinforcements to provide and no more Jedi to spare. You all are on your own with this mission."

Aayla nodded. "We understand. We fully believe we are capable of taking him into custody this time. After all… unless he can fly without a ship, he won't be able to get away this time."

"Very well. Report back as soon as you capture him."

The hologram faded, leaving them all standing there in the dim light. A moment went by. "Okay. So… I'm going to get washed up and clean up my armor." Scorch said happily, now that they had gotten their armor back from the demolished Ryloth base.

The commandos parted ways and went to their quarters, and Matt turned and looked out the view port. Kristy watched him for a moment, before standing next to him, as Aayla left the room to report to the pilots.

The only sound was the humming from the lights. "Nice view." She said. Matt turned to her. "Yeah. It is." He gave her a smile. "Sorry we took so long to get there and rescue you guys." He blushed softly. Kristy shrugged. "Hey, we're still alive, right?"

He nodded slowly, and looked back out the view port. "Do you…" he hesitated for a moment. "Do you ever wonder what the others are up to? Lara, Rebecca, AJ…"

Kristy nodded her head slowly. "Yeah. I do. We're in a much bigger place now. It's not just simply where on earth are you now. It's where in the galaxy are you, and to be honest, that kind of scares me."

He cocked an eyebrow and smirked. "I thought you were a mean and deadly commando."

Kristy laughed and gave him a playful shove. "Very funny." Her smile faded slightly. "But really. We're in the middle of a galactic war."

"And we can stop that war too. Before it gets to it's climax."

"How?"

"We need to stop Palpatine and speak to Anakin."

"Skywalker? He's on the outer rim right now."

"Not now. We have to stop Blazer and Kate first, before we can move to the big game. But rest assure…" Suddenly he froze. "Matt? You okay?"

His eyes shifted to hers. "Don't you feel that?"

"Feel what?" Kristy replied, getting worried slightly. "It's that… feeling." Suddenly he shrugged. "Never mind. Let's go get em'."

"Matt." Kristy hissed, as he turned, starting to walk away. "Tell me what just happened."

He stopped and turned to her. "I… just have a bad feeling about this. That's all." He turned and started to walk away again, but stopped. "Just… be careful when we get there. Okay?"

Kristy nodded softly, as he left the room, leaving her still wondering what the hell was about to happen.

* * *

The plan was simple; Aayla and Matt would take personal Jedi Interception fighters, while the clones and Kristy take a gunship. Boss eyed the small group that was about to stage the most dangerous mission yet.

"There are anti-air turrets located here, here, and here. Close examination leads me and Niner to believe that we can skip the ships through this small gap between the turrets, and avoid detection. However…"

Boss trailed off, still scanning his eyes over the group, "we'll have to enter the gap at an exact moment, or else someone's gonna get hurt."

"Or worse." Niner commented. Boss nodded to him, and Niner took over. "The turrets are st on a scanning radius. And the radius for each one is set so that each turret is covered by the other, in a triangle set-up."

"So in order to avoid getting blasted to oblivion, we'll have to skirt the gap between Turrets one and two at exactly 0549 hours, when in which the turrets will be angled and unable to cover each other for this mere second."

"So we get a whole second to dodge these turrets?"

"Exactly."

"Cool." Scorch murmured. Kristy looked over at him, as did almost everyone else. He blushed softly, and placed his helmet on his head. "Right, sorry."

"Alright." Aayla said, stepping into the center of the room. "Let's get ready. We depart in twenty."

Matt felt a shiver roll down his back. Twenty minutes till death. How exciting.

* * *

The three ships lifted up and took off out through the docking hanger of the republic assault ship and accelerated into open space. "Setting coordinates for hyperspace." Kristy said, as her fingers flew over the controls of the ship.

"Copy that. Ready when you all are." Matt said from his Jedi Interceptor. He secured his headset and restraints, as he prepped for hyperspace. There was a whistle from his left. He look out and nodded to his astromech droid. "Alright R7. Just hold your womp rats. We're leaving in a second."

"We're a go." Kristy announced over the comms. "Here we go…" Scorch murmured, sitting up in his seat. Sev looked over at him. "I forgot how hyper hyperspace makes you."

"Better then being space sick."

"Punch it." Niner said.

In a matter of seconds, the ships blasted off, the stars blurring all around them as they became a speck among the dark void of space.

* * *

"We're approaching Cloud City."

"ETA?" Boss asked. Fixer looked at the console. "About five minutes."

There was a beeping sound on the console suddenly. Kristy frowned in confusion. Niner nodded to her. "What's up?" He asked.

"System scans are showing that the anti-air turrets are inactive."

"Are you sure?"

"Completely." Fi piped in, over Kristy's shoulder. "Turrets are disabled."

"Let the Jedi know." Fi nodded, and turned to the comms. Darman and Atin sat in their seats, frowning, along with everyone else. "Maybe it's a trap." Atin suggested, "He might have found the tracking device."

Niner nodded. "It's possible."

Kristy shook her head in disagreement. Darman cocked an eyebrow. Kristy sighed. "Blazer's way too stupid to think of looking about for a tracker. You saw his smirk as the ship took off. He'd done figured he was clean away."

"Alright. Copy that." Fi said. Everyone turned to him. He looked around. "Jedi said to approach with caution. Mission's still the same."

This time it was Sev's turn to sigh. "Damn. And I was looking forward to the gut busting landing."

Fi chuckled. "Relax Oh-Seven. I'm positive that This Sith has a few hundred Battle droids for you to shoot."

"Gee, thanks for the positive comments Fi. If your lucky you might just make it to Commando heaven yet." Sev replied, sarcasm heavy in his voice. Kristy just rolled her eyes.

The ships landed on the three platforms, with out incident. That fact make Niner paranoid. Nothing went without a hitch in their line of work, without some trick to it. There was probably a few dozen SBDs waiting around the corner for them. That'd be a trick. Sort of. But with Two Jedi, Eight commandos, and one Commando platoon leader, the droids would get one shot each, before they were cut down. If that.

Kristy lowered the boarding ramp and they all ran off the ship, taking up defensive positions around the three ships. Matt hit the eject button, and R7 popped out, landing neatly on the platform, before he got out of the ship, and Aayla walked calmly over to join the group.

"Alright. Keep your guard up." Boss murmured. He looked over at Niner and Niner looked over at him and they nodded. "Let the Jedi lead."

The group of commandos, lead by Kristy, formed up behind Matt and Aayla, as they started toward the main blast doors that led into the City in the clouds, their robes flowing around them, almost mystically. As they approached, there was a hiss as the doors suddenly started to open. The entire group froze, with the commandos and Kay aimed their blaster rifles at the doors. The Jedi stood calmly, waiting.

In the center of the doorway, stood a cloaked figure, with medium battle armor on… almost like… Mandalorian Armor. The figure looked up, and raised their hands, slowly pulling their cloak away from around their head…

The young female smiled at the group. "The Republic, right? You here for the Sith?"

Matt forced himself to keep his composure. Kristy on the other hand, lowered her blaster and shouted. "AJ! What the hell?" Kay pulled off her helmet, and walked over half way to AJ, who smiled even bigger. "Kristy! Hi."

"Well, it seems we've all gotten into what we were all meant to be doing…"

Matt cocked an eyebrow at AJ. "Yours being…?"

AJ grinned. "I'm an odd jobs kind of girl."

Fi examined her from head to toe. "Looks more like you're a bounty hunter."

"Fine, gees, call it what you like." AJ murmured. They all stood around for a moment, awkwardly. Aayla sighed and crossed her arms. "Okay, so, you said you had him in custody?" She asked AJ, referring to Blazer. AJ nodded proudly. "Sure do."

Aayla looked at AJ, as she stood there, grinning at Matt and Kristy. "So… can we take him back to Coruscant?"

"Uh… where?"

Matt cleared his throat. "The center planet. Home of the Republic, and Jedi Temple. Think of it as… Earth."

AJ thought for a moment, before nodding quickly. "Oh! Right. Coruscant! Sure, you can take him…"

Kristy looked at AJ. "I'm sensing a but…"

AJ huffed. "But… as a," she waved her fingers in the air, "bounty hunter, I do require a fee, for doing the hard part."

Matt couldn't help but smirk. "How big of a fee?" Aayla asked. AJ shrugged. "Uh… let's say… 25,000 credits?" Aayla thought for a moment, before nodding slowly. "Well, I think that can be arranged."

"Great, so, then, let's go. I'll show you to him."

Kristy turned to the commandos. "Secure the area. No one gets in or out until he's completely secure."

Boss and Niner nodded. "Copy that, Kay."

Kay nodded, and turned to catch up with Matt and Aayla as AJ led them down a winding corridor. AJ stopped and hit a button, causing the doors to slide away, and she led the three into the security bay, where They saw Blazer, unarmed, and in his under garments, locked up behind an energy field, with two security droids standing on guard.

Matt smirked. "Impressive. His weapon?"

"5,000 credits."

Matt pulled out a credit chip and handed it to her. She reached down on her belt and pulled off a light saber hilt and handed it to him. He smiled softly. He had his enemy's weapon in his hands. It was over for Blazer. As it goes, a Jedi's light saber is his life. Well, the same was true for a Sith. Sort of. They were still dangerous. The anger they'd built up inside was enough. The light saber – a mere accessory.

Matt clipped the weapon to his own belt, and stepped up to the energy field. He didn't glare. He didn't laugh. He just stared. "Looks like you lose, my old friend." He said to Blazer, who just sneered. "I will always be one step ahead of you, Matt."

Outside, at the front landing bay, Niner looked up, his visor cutting the glare of the sunlight, as he spotted an incoming ship. "Captain. We've got an incoming ship…"

Darman cut Niner off. "Take that back. We've got a few dozen ships incoming."

Kristy put a hand to her helmet. "Uh… guys… we've got a problem."

Aayla and AJ turned to Kristy. "What is it?" Aayla asked. "Fighters… oh God."

Matt just cocked an eyebrow, subconsciously taking notice of the sudden fear in the conversation behind him, but having his main focus on Blazer. "How do you figure your one step ahead? I'm not the one behind an energy barrier."

Blazer chuckled. "That's a good point. But, just because you've been knocked off the board, doesn't mean you can't have an effect on the game. I figure you've got about 60 seconds."

Time suddenly slowed down as Matt turned to Kristy, AJ, and Aayla. There was a sudden rumble. Followed by a louder explosion. Suddenly the commandos rushed into the bay, firing their rifles behind them. Fixer hit the door controls, before Sev blasted them completely.

Fi cocked an eyebrow behind his helmet. "Well that was good. How do we get _out_?" He asked. Suddenly there was a rapid beeping. "Charges. Down!" Boss hissed, causing both squads to dive for cover as the doors exploded. Blaster fire began to pour into the room, as did battle droids.


	11. Chapter 11

**Chapter Eleven**

The battle droids just kept pouring in, blasting whatever was in front of them, including each other. Matt and Aayla had their sabers out, and they were mere flashes of color as they swung them, deflecting the blaster bolts away. Kristy aimed her blaster carefully and popped off three droid heads in a row with one shot, while AJ secured her helmet on, and had drawn her duel blasters and began to fire at the droids as well.

The commandos had split up into two random groups when they'd dove for cover, and now they were firing from cover at the droids. But with each droid destroyed, three more replaced it. "Looks like we really are on our own." Matt commented. Aayla just responded with a grunt as she swung her blade at a droid close enough to her, taking it's metal head off and then slicing it's torso in two.

Suddenly the lights began to flicker and Matt felt his heart skip a beat as he looked over at the energy field that was holding Blazer. It was being affected the same way as the lights were. "Oh no." He muttered, and turned and ran forward, only to find himself suddenly flying off to the side, away from the cell.

He saw a flash of red and he quickly got to his feet as Katelynn ran over and jammed her blade into the controls for the cell. The energy field suddenly failed, and Blazer put on a soft but firm smile. He was loose. And there was no way the group was going to stop him this time.

He strutted out of the cell, and looked over at Matt, who raised his blade. Blazer extended his hand briefly and suddenly his light saber flew from Matt's belt and activated in his own hand, just in time to block Matt's blow.

"Check Mate." Blazer hissed, pushing his blade into Matt's. Matt just pushed back into Blazer's blade with equal force. "No. You might have won this round, but guess what? You still have to escape the city."

"That shouldn't be too difficult in a few seconds…"

Matt saw a red flash from the side. _Kate. _He turned, kicking sideways, knocking Blazer away, as he blocked Kate's blade from decapitating him. He shoved her away and turned to meet Blazer's blade. "Typical Sith. You cheat and out number me."

Blazer just smiled. "Pretty good strategy, don't you think?"

Matt shrugged. "Sure. For the moment." Suddenly Matt ducked, as Kate swung her blade, and Blazer hopped back, barely avoiding Kate's blade and his very own decapitation. Matt leaped straight up into the air, and landed on a cat walk above. Blazer hissed. "After him!"

Kate nodded, and leaped up after Matt, and Blazer looked up, before following her. Matt quickly found Kate and Blazer on either side of him, blades glowing blood red. He let out a long slow breath of determination.

Down below them, Aayla leaped up and landed in the middle of six battle droids. One turned and looked at her. "Kill the Jedi!" it screamed, before Aayla ducked and swung in a complete 360 degree motion, almost like a dancer.

"Uh-oh." Scorch muttered, "SBDs."

Aayla and Kristy turned to see the super battle droids clanking into the room, their large cannon arms at the ready. There had to be at least 2 dozen of them. "Scanning… Multiple Republic Targets. Open fire."

"Oh, look. The seps are trying to outfit AIs into their droids now. I'm almost impressed." Fi muttered. "Yeah, well, AI or not, I'd like to see them dodge this…" Scorch shouted, and fired off an AA Round from his DeeCee, taking out three SBDs at once. "YEAH! That's what I'm talking about!" Atin screamed, rolling an EC charge out into the middle of the droids.

The EC charge exploded, sending about a blast of electrical energy, zapping the droid's systems and disabling them for good. But it was over yet; a familiar sound told Kristy that they'd just finished the easy part as the rolling metal sound that approached the door grew louder. She gritted her teeth and rushed forward, up next to Darman and Fixer. "Get ready boys. This is where the fun starts." She said, switching out her DeeCee blaster attachment for her AA attachment.

"Oh… and just when I thought I disliked you Kay… you go get all sexy on me." Scorch chuckled under his breath. "Focus Scorch…" She murmured, letting out a long slow breath as the balls of metal rolled through the door and suddenly expanded into small round droids, with personal shield generators and two twin blaster cannons for hands.

"Droidikas!"

"Damn!"

The commandos ducked behind cover as Kristy reloaded her AA attachment with another grenade. AJ raised her right arm, and hit a button on her wrist controls, causing a small rocket to fire off her wrist launcher, destroying a Droidika.

Back up on the cat walk above, Matt held his blade in a defensive position for the time being, waiting, watching, listening… feeling for the Sith's next move. "Come on, Matt…" Kate taunted behind him. Matt didn't turn to her. That was what she wanted him to do. She knew she couldn't beat him in a down right fight. The only one who could even try, was Blazer. And all his attention was on Blazer at that very moment.

Suddenly Blazer pulled his arm back, and Matt raised his blade in preparation of defense, only to watch Blazer force throw his blade around all three of them, like a boomerang. It flew around, cutting through each hold of the cat walk with ease, before settling back in Blazer's hand. At the same time, the cat walk started to give way. Matt felt his feet start to give out from under him.

But instead of fighting with gravity, he gave into it, and fell onto his stomach and rolled off to the side, as Blazer and Kate came down, their blades landing right where he had been just seconds ago.

Kate looked up, at an empty space, when suddenly there was a whistle from behind her. She turned, blade raised high. There was a hiss. Blazer let out a cry of anger as she looked down at her stomach, and the blue energy blade of Matt's light saber that had penetrated her flesh.

She slowly looked up at Matt, took a sudden gasp, looked over at Blazer, as a tear rolled down her face, before she looked back at Matt, and then collapsed onto the floor. Matt deactivated his light saber, holding the hilt in his right hand, and breathed slowly, saying nothing, as Blazer dropped down next to her. "Kate…"

She just stared up at him, as she slowly died. There was nothing he could do for her. Not even the strongest Jedi could heal her now. Suddenly she released her final breath and Blazer gritted his teeth. "No…" Matt took a step back, as Blazer slowly stood, still looking down at Kate's body.

"NO!" He screamed, causing everyone – including the battle droids – to turn and look over. "You will pay for that!"

"It's over Bla…"

"No! I'm going to destroy you!"

"I wouldn't try it." AJ shot. "Shut up, Bounty Hunter trash!"

"Okay, that's it…"

Aayla reached out and grabbed AJ's arm, stopping her. Blazer switched on his Blade and looked at Matt. "I'm not surrendering."

"Then… so be it."

Suddenly Blazer leapt forward, blade raised high in the air. Matt leapt as well, and the two met in mid-air, and the blades clashed, and they both lost their grips on their weapons, and they crashed to the floor. Blazer had the upper hand, and grabbed Matt's neck, and began to squeeze hard.

"It's over alright. I'm taking you with me!" He screamed. Kristy stared, and her hand began to shake. He was going to kill Matt, if someone didn't do something. Aayla reached for her Blade, but Kristy's hand began to shake violently, and she raised it up, and looked at it closely. It was starting to dissipate into… liquid.

"Let him go, Blazer!"

"You're next, Kay, wait your turn!" He shouted, as Matt attempted to struggle with Blazer, to no avail. "I said… Let him GO!" Suddenly a powerful stream of boiling water shot out of her hand, and slammed into Blazer, slamming him into the wall.

Suddenly Kristy closed her hand, and the beam of water stopped; her hand quickly returned to normal. She stopped shaking. AJ turned and looked at the battle droids, who just continued to stare. AJ rolled her eyes and blasted their heads off.

"Take a picture. It lasts longer."

Aayla rushed over and knelt down next to Blazer, who's body was riddled with burns from the boiling water blast. "Who is your Master?" She questioned. He just gasped. She sighed. "Look young one. You still have time. You can return to the light. But you must take that step. I can not do it for you…"

He looked up at her, and then at Matt, who'd gotten up, and was recovering from the choking. "Count Dooku."

"And who else is involved?"

"He reports to Darth Sidious. He has a plan to overthrow the Jedi."

Aayla looked over her shoulder, at Matt and Kristy and AJ. "He also has plans on converting Skywalker." He gasped in pain.

"Alright. Rest now."


	12. Chapter 12

**Chapter Twelve**

"Convert Skywalker?"

Aayla nodded slowly. "That's correct, Master Yoda. However, he has no clue who Darth Sidious is exactly. We only know that Dooku reports to him."

The hologram of Yoda nodded slowly, seemingly thinking of something. "Returning, Skywalker is, from a mission on Rodia. Return, you must as well. Meeting we will have."

Aayla nodded slowly, as the hologram vanished slowly. She stood and turned, looking across the room, as Matt stood, staring after Blazer as Clone Medics carried him off. Kristy was off, speaking with the Commandos and AJ.

Aayla walked over, and Matt looked over at her and smiled softly. "Two Sith Lords down. A few more to go." He commented. Aayla nodded slowly. "Yes. Perhaps. I have informed Master Yoda of the plan to convert Skywalker. He has requested our presence with Skywalker in the Council's chamber."

Matt nodded. "Very well." He said. "You think he knows who Darth Sidious is?" Aayla shook her head. "No. I do not. But I'm sure something will happen during the meeting that will open a new lead into this mystery."

"Yeah." He nodded. "I'll go get the shuttle ready."

"Matt." She grabbed his arm, stopping him from walking away at that moment. He looked at her, confused. "Yeah, Master Secura?" She stared at him for a moment, before releasing his arm. "I'm proud of you. You held yourself well in battle."

He smiled slightly, blushing. "Thanks, Master. I'm… glad you noticed." He nodded to her and she nodded back, letting out a sigh as he walked away.

Matt walked past Kristy, who was speaking with the commandos and AJ. He caught her eye for a brief second, before he entered the hanger bay, where the republic shuttle was waiting. He entered, and relieved the pilot droid, who moved off to the cargo bay of the ship with a dim whining sound.

Matt collapsed in the pilot's seat, and sat there for a moment, reliving the battle that had occurred just an hour ago. "Hey." A soft voice called from behind him. He quickly examined the controls of the ship, before glancing back at AJ. "Oh, hey, AJ." She walked over and sat down next to him in the co-pilot's seat. "Mind if I…?"

"No. It's fine." He flipped a switch, checking the engines. "So, that was a pretty strange battle that just took place."

"How so?"

"You just killed a long time friend of yours."

"She wasn't a friend. She was a Sith lord, and I…"

"You did what you had to do. But it couldn't have been easy to slice a hole in her stomach like that."

"Actually, more like her small intestine. See, her stomach is right about here…"

"Cut the crap, Matt."

He looked up at her. "What did she do to make you not care if you cut her open or not?"

He stared into AJ's gaze. "She… betrayed me."

"How?"

"It… happened before all of this. Before the portal. Can we just forget it? She's gone. Now we have to stop Skywalker from being converted."

AJ nodded slowly. "Alright." She sighed. Matt stared at the controls, feeling stupid for acting this way towards one of his best friends. "Look, I'm sorry. Your right. I just killed one of my old friends. But she turned her back on me before the portal. Then she turned to the Sith for help when she arrived here. I had… no choice but to kill her."

"I said, it's alright Matt. Relax."

AJ sighed and pulled a pack of cigarettes from a pocket. She lit one up. Matt looked over at her. "AJ… those things are going to kill you before your actual occupation does."

"Yeah, yeah. I know! It's my last one… this stupid universe doesn't sell these. It's death sticks or nothing, and those have some strange side-effects from what I've heard."

Matt just chuckled. "Oh, by the way. Kristy was looking for you." AJ said, as she got up, and left the cockpit. Matt frowned and nodded to himself. That was yet another question he had. What the hell happened to her? Something was seriously going on… and it was changing them all.

* * *

_15 Standard Hours Later_

Matt landed the shuttle in the Jedi Temple docking bay, and lowered the boarding ramp. They walked out, and into the bay, where they found Master Yoda and Master Windu. Both Matt and Aayla bowed. "Masters."

Windu bowed in return and Yoda nodded. "Master Secura. Padawan Smith. Please, follow us. We have many things to discuss in the chambers."

* * *

Kristy led the commandos into the barracks. She dropped her pack on the floor next to her bunk and sat down. Fi glanced over at her. "Hey, Kay, you okay?" He asked gently. Kristy looked up at him. "Huh? Oh. Yeah… I'm fine."

"I don't think that's what he meant, Captain." Boss suggested. Kristy sighed. "You guys… are referring to what happened to my… hand. Right?"

"It wasn't exactly normal."

"That's not fair, Atin." Fi shot. "How, so?" He retorted. Scorch frowned. "Probably because we're not normal to her. Think about it. She's not… from this universe."

"I don't know what happened exactly."

Sev chuckled. "It's simple. You've got a thing for Commander Smith."

Niner cocked an eyebrow. "What's that got to do with anything, Sev?"

"Well, while we're on the subject of 'think-about-it's', then think about this. She had a reaction, from some super power she picked up on her portal ride to our universe, when that Sith was attempting to kill Smith. It just happens to be the ability to control water."

Everyone was staring at Sev. "You asked." Was all he commented after that.

* * *

"This is what we suspect." Mace Windu started, "We suspect that Palpatine is some how involved with the Sith."

"How so?" Matt asked. Aayla frowned. Mace continued. "It's the only explanation on how this Darth Sidious would even have a chance on converting Skywalker."

"What would you have us do?"

"You, Padawan, will go with Captain Harrington and dig up what you can on the Chancellor. Master Secura will distract Skywalker, as well as the Chancellor with a meeting."

"The information shouldn't be too difficult to procure."

"Good. Then it's decided. Padawan. Leave us. Get whom ever else along with Harrington you need to get the job done. This is a time sensitive situation. We must stop the Sith from Turning Anakin." Matt bowed, and then rushed out of the chambers.

* * *

"You want to do what?!" Kristy exclaimed, suddenly excited and confused. Matt smirked softly. "We… need to hack into Chancellor Palpatine's network."

"Who's idea is that?"

"The Jedi Council's idea. You heard what Blazer said. Sidious is going to attempt to convert Skywalker. The Chancellor is the only close person to Anakin. Secura and Anakin will be meeting with Palpatine to provide a distraction for us."

"Why do I have a bad feeling about this?" She asked. Matt cocked an eyebrow. "Hey, Kay…" She looked at him. "What?"

"I want to thank you for… doing what ever it was that you did to Blazer. You… saved my life."

"Yeah. Well…You need to learn to fight like a man and not a girl." She laughed. Matt just smiled.


	13. Chapter 13

**Chapter Thirteen**

"Master Secura."

Aayla turned and saw Anakin approaching her at a reasonable pace. He stopped a few feet away and bowed to her. She merely nodded . "Master Skywalker. Thank you for joining me on this meeting with the Chancellor. I understand you have some rapport with him."

Anakin nodded. "I do. He's become a good friend." He looked at Aayla. "What is the meeting about?"

Aayla nodded slowly. Time for the truth and a lie at the same time. It was a mix of the two, which kept her sane for the moment. "I need to report that Darth Blazer is in custody and his fellow Sith companion, Katelynn, has been… killed in combat."

Anakin didn't flinch. "Very well. I'm glad to accompany you." Aayla smiled softly, and they started for the air taxi that was waiting.

* * *

Kristy zoomed in with her scope, and saw the chancellor sitting at his desk, on a holo chat with another senator. "What time is the meeting?" She asked Matt, who was behind her, sitting on a bed, going through some data pads.

"Uh… in 10 minutes." He said, glancing at his chronometer. She nodded slowly, still watching the chancellor. "How long is it to last?"

"You mean how long do we have to hack his system and bang out? About… 5 minutes at the most. It doesn't take long to tell him that we killed one Sith and Captured another."

"True that." She murmured. "So, how is Aayla anyhow?"

Matt looked up from the data pad. "Sorry?"

"Is she a good Jedi Master? Does she teach you a lot?"

Matt thought for a moment, blushing slightly. "Yeah. She's um… great. My use of the force has expanded greatly. And it's been only the few weeks we've been here."

Matt flustered for a moment, before looking at the data pads again. "How are the commandos?"

"Lively."

"So, do you think Etain had fun?"

Kristy lowered the scope, and slowly turned and looked at him. "What is that supposed to mean?" Matt smirked. "Well, I know what you were thinking when you asked about Master Secura. Just consider it, a poke back at you."

Kristy cocked an eyebrow and was going to say something, when suddenly, Matt's comm link buzzed. He snatched it from his belt and answered. "Commander Smith."

"Padawan. We're entering his conference room. Get ready for entry."

Matt hung up the comm. "It's time." Kristy nodded and turned, taking a liquid cable launcher out. She aimed and fired off at the ledge, just outside the chancellor's office window. The cable caught and Kristy leaped out the window, and zoomed across the air, landing softly on the ledge of the building.

She glanced back at Matt, examined the inside of the office through the window, and waved to Matt. He stepped forward, fired his launcher, and slid across, landing beside Kristy. "Alright." She took out a drill. Matt rolled his eyes and ignited his saber, slicing a hole in the window. It fell off down through the endless sky. Kristy glanced over the edge, and frowned. "Be careful."

Matt nudged her softly. "It's me."

"I know…"

He leaped up, with some aid from the force, and slipped in through the hole in the window. Kristy rolled her eyes. "Show off." She muttered, crawling in through the hole. "I'll secure the area. You start your hack."

"Sir, yes, Sir!" She hissed, stopping at the chancellor's desk. She logged onto his system, and plugged in a device to the side of it. Data screens began to pop up and a download signal appeared. "Alright. I'm in." Matt glanced over at her. "That was fast."

Kristy just smiled sarcastically.

* * *

Back in the conference room just three doors down the hall, Aayla and Anakin had sat down with the chancellor, who smiled politely. "Master Jedi. How are you both today?"

"Doing Well, thank you." Aayla replied. Anakin blinked. "We've come to deliver some important news."

The chancellor looked surprised. "Oh?"

"Yes. My Padawan and I had tracked the two Sith, Blazer and Katelynn, to Cloud City, where we engaged them. Katelynn is dead, and Blazer in custody with Medical bots."

"Well, that's great news. That's two less Sith on the loose. Now, if you'll excuse me. I hate to chat and run, but I have important things to return to. A meeting with Padme' Amidala, senator of Naboo has come to me with some treaties to sign." Aayla glanced over at Anakin, who's face lit up at the mention of Padme'.

They all stood and bowed. "Very well. Thank you for your time."

The chancellor left the room, and Aayla took out her comm.

* * *

Back in the main office, Matt hissed at Kristy. "Time!"

"Less then 10 seconds left."

Matt's comm buzzed suddenly. He answered it. "Smith."

"Evacuate now."

"Matt peeked out the door and saw the chancellor heading back towards them. He hung up the comm and raced over the desk. "Done. Let's go." Kristy hissed. They both turned slid through the window again. "What in death's name?!" They heard from behind them.

"Shit."

"No plan survives contact with the enemy!"

"There wasn't supposed to be contact with the enemy!"

Suddenly there was a blast. The force of it, sent both Matt and Kristy forward, over the ledge.


	14. Chapter 14

**Chapter Fourteen**

They were falling. Kristy knew that. But for some strange ass reason, she wasn't freaking out. Most people would have been screaming their asses off, or maybe just shitting their pants… or perhaps, both. She couldn't be sure. It probably depended upon the person. Either way, it didn't apply to her. She wasn't sure if Matt was freaking out or not. The wind covered up any sound of anything around her as she free fell straight down, almost next to Matt.

She spread her arms and legs, seemingly enjoying herself. But she saw something out of the corner of her eye. A speeder was heading in Matt's direction. Not on purpose. It was in it's proper air lane. She gritted her teeth, and jammed her armed against her sides, shooting forward. She grabbed Matt, yanking him out of the path of the speeder. They flew sideways, and suddenly crashed through the window of a building.

Matt found himself laying in the middle of a sort of cubical area. He shook his head, as the sound of everything around him hit his ear drums at once. The alarms were going off all over the city. He got to his feet quickly, only to be grabbed from behind and shoved into the wall. "Your under arrest, in the name of the galactic republic!"

As he looked around, he saw all the republic security force officers that had surrounded him. He cursed as they cuffed him and shoved him towards the exit.

* * *

Kristy's eyes shot open as she felt the pain of the hard landing travel all around her body. She forced herself to sit up, as she moaned from the ripples of pain. She could hear alarms going off all through out the city. She felt her comm ring. She answered it and a hologram of Fi appeared in her palm.

"Kay! What the shebs is going on? The Republic has Commander Smith in custody for an attempted assassination on Chancellor Palpatine."

Kristy frowned. "Well, then that's a problem."

"Kay, they're tracking you."

"How long?"

"About 45 seconds."

"I'm transmitting some data to you. Look through it, and contact me when you find it."

"Find what?"

"You'll know it when you see it."

There was a scream from above. Kristy looked up and saw a young Twi-lek in a speeder. "That's her!" She screamed, pointing at a holo-board just a few buildings away. The CSF worked fast to post her data for the public to see. That put a cramp in Kristy's plan. She frowned, as CSF speeders came flying towards her.

Blaster bolts hit the rooftop around her feet. In response, she took off running, and without thinking, leaped off the edge of the roof, and suddenly shot away, leaving the security forces confused and staring in awe.

* * *

Aayla rushed down the corridor of the Jedi Temple. "Would you mind explaining what just happened?" Anakin questioned, as he rushed to keep up with her. She ignored him for the moment. Her padawan was just arrested and A Commando was MIA, and all for an attempt on the chancellor's life.

At least that's what was leaked with-in the last half an hour, after the attack. Aayla knew different. It was a holo-shield to cover up what might have been stolen from the chancellor's system. It was now obvious that he was indeed hiding something. And with a Jedi and a Commando involved with a supposed assassination, no one with in the public would trust the Jedi.

Obi-Wan Kenobi and Mace Windu came rushed down the hall to meet Aayla and Anakin. Windu frowned. "We just got word. The Chancellor is sending CSF and some Clone Platoons here as we speak."

Obi-Wan nodded. "We have about 10 minutes before they arrive."

"That doesn't leave us much time then, does it?"

"Seriously. Master. Tell me what's going on!"

"Anakin," Obi-Wan started, "We attempted to hack into the Chancellor's system, because we believe that he's some how involved with the Sith and the Separatists. But Commander Smith and Captain Harrington were spotted on their way out. Smith has been arrested and Harrington is MIA."

"WHAT?" Anakin exclaimed. "You were spying on the chancellor?"

"The fact that he turned a mere break in into a heavy assassination attempt leads us to believe that our suspicions were correct. Palpatine is involved with the Sith."

"That's non-sense! You just spooked him! Of course he's…"

Suddenly Aayla's comm link buzzed. She answered it in a flash. "Secura."

"The CSF and Clones are getting out of the shuttles now. You have about a minute or less. They have orders to shoot on sight." Kristy's voice said.

"What?!"

"The Chancellor issued order 66."

"Which is…?"

"The Jedi staged a coup. They must be destroyed."

Aayla looked up at her fellow Jedi's faces. They all had the same look. Shock and Awe. "We're leaving. What's your location?"

"I can't say. I'll meet up with you later."

The comm went dead and Aayla frowned. "Well, it's time to go." Obi-Wan said. They all nodded.

* * *

The cell was well lit, with energy barriers on all sides, and two guards in the room with him, and four Clones outside in the other room. It seemed the chancellor wasn't taking any chances with him. Matt sighed as the CSF leader questioned him again.

"What were you doing in the chancellor's office?"

"I heard it was a good hang out spot from the gangs in the lower cities."

The leader sneered. "Funny." He jammed an electric prod into Matt's side, giving him a wake-up call. Matt yelped in pain. "Who sent you to assassinate the chancellor?"

"Well, you tell me. I never said it was an assassination. You did."

"Silence!"

"Go to hell."

The leader shoved the prod into Matt's chest, and held it there for about 30 seconds, as Matt jolted around violently, helpless. "ENOUGH!" A voice screamed out. Everyone looked around to see a Hooded figure standing there, a smug smile on it's lips. "I have all the information I need. But he has one last use to us…"


	15. Chapter 15

**Chapter Fifteen**

Kristy stared at the screen from behind AJ, who sighed. "This is depressing." AJ muttered. Kristy didn't say anything. She just stared at the screen, watching the Clone Troopers and CSF troopers attack the Jedi Temple, killing the few Jedi that remained.

Neither of them had spotted Aayla, Obi-Wan, Anakin, Mace, Or Yoda yet. Of course if they Jedi were smart, they probably took the back escape routes out of the temple. "I'll try contacting Aayla." Kristy said, turning away with her Comm.

She waited as she called for Secura. Her heart leapt for joy when she heard a soft female voice answer. "Secura."

"Master Secura. This is Kristy."

"Captain Harrington!"

"Have you made it to safety?"

"We have. We're currently aboard a stolen republic shuttle."

"What's your location?"

"We're heading for Naboo."

Kristy chewed her bottom lip. She knew why they were heading there. Anakin wanted to check on Padme'. She smiled for a brief second. "Any word on Matt?" She asked. She could have Sworn she heard Aayla sigh on the other line.

"No. We have a suspicion that the CSF has him in their local brig on Coruscant."

Kristy turned and looked at AJ. "Hack the CSF security system. Find Matt." She said simply. AJ didn't argue. She just started to type quickly at the system. Kristy turned back to the conversation. "If he's there, We'll get him out."

"I got him!"

Kristy turned to AJ, who had hacked a security cam, which showed Matt, collapsed on the floor inside a laser grid cell. "Alright. We've found him. We'll meet you on Coruscant."

"Kristy!"

She froze. Aayla just went to a first name basis with her. Strange…

"Yes, Aayla."

"Just… wait for us." Kristy smiled softly. She was forcing herself to check her feelings. "Don't worry. We'd be outnumbered anyway."

"We're already outnumbered. The entire republic army is after us."

"Good point."

* * *

The shuttle shot towards the green and blue planet. It descended quickly to it's docking bay, where Anakin lowered the boarding ramp. Artoo let out a sudden whistle of excitement. Anakin looked at him and chuckled. "Yeah. We're going to see Padme' real quick. Then we have a rescue mission to get to."

Anakin led the group off the ship and down the street, where he stopped a house. "Padme'?" He called, knocking on the door. "Come in!"

Anakin hit the door button and they entered the house, where they were greeted by a few small children – nieces of Padme'. And then – he saw her. Her brown curled hair, down just below her shoulders, wearing a lovely dress and the smile that was completely natural.

Artoo let out a long and loud whistle, and the girls giggled. Anakin just smiled. Obi-Wan cocked an eyebrow. "I do hate to break up this lovely reunion, but we do have a Republic commander being held captive."

Anakin gave Obi-Wan a look and the nodded slowly. "Of course. Let's go into the other room and talk." Padme' led them into a sitting room, where C-3PO served them a drink. Aayla put down a holo-recording of Matt on the table. "This is my Padawan. He's been captured by the CSF for an attempted assassination of chancellor Palpatine."

Padme looked up at Anakin and then looked at Aayla. "Why would he do such a thing?"

"He didn't. We weren't trying to assassinate anyone. Just trying to obtain some information. We had reason to believe that Palpatine had it in with the Sith. The fact that he called an assassination on All Jedi when he caught Matthew and Kristy in the chambers is all the more reason to consider him the enemy now. He's obviously in an alliance with the Sith."

"And this makes it even worse." Obi-Wan said, putting out a holo-recording of the Clones killing innocent Jedi at the temple. Padme Gasped. "Oh my goodness."

"We've come here, asking for your help Padme." Anakin said. She looked up between the three of them. "What can I do?"

There was a buzz and a door suddenly opened. Two girls, one a bit younger then the other, entered the room. "Miss Padme, what's happening?" The younger one asked. Anakin cocked an eyebrow, as did Obi-Wan, and Aayla. Padme just waved to the two girls. "Lara. Rebecca…" Padme frowned. "Do you know who this is?" She activated the Holo-recording of Matt. Rebecca cleared her throat. Lara just stared. "Yeah. That's my Brother." Rebecca murmured. Aayla looked at her. Anakin and Obi-Wan exchanged looks.

"What did he get himself into this time?" Lara asked softly. "Treason against the Chancellor."

"Good Job…"

"How so?" Obi-Wan asked. Rebecca chuckled. "I keep forgetting. I'm actually here. Not in my world." She hesitated. "Chancellor Palpatine is Darth Sidious."


	16. Chapter 16

**Chapter Sixteen**

Aayla sat in the room, darkness all around her. The sound of footsteps made her shift her eyes to the door, but then she just looked out the window again, when the door opened, and Obi-Wan walked in. He sat down next to her and looked out the window. "It's a lovely night." He stated softly. Aayla just nodded softly.

Suddenly she felt his hand on her shoulder. "He's going to be okay." He said. Aayla suddenly turned and looked up at Obi-Wan. He nodded. "You have a deep connection to him, don't you?"

Aayla nodded. "More then I'd like."

Obi-Wan thought for a moment, as he rubbed his beard softly. "How long have you known?"

"Just recently. But it was obvious, the way you are worrying about the situation. You are actually worried about him."

"I don't like it. I said that. But I can no longer ignore my feelings for him." She turned away and looked out the window again. "Besides. The Jedi are no longer an existing group. The council can not control my actions anymore."

"I'm sure Anakin feels the same as you do, Master Secura."

"Yes… I'm sure he does." She said, with a sigh.

* * *

Padme' hugged her family goodbye sadly. Anakin stood on the boarding ramp of the shuttle, watching. Inside the ship, Mace, Yoda, Obi-Wan, and Aayla watched from the cockpit. "I do wish she didn't get involved."

"She's a very good ally to have. And not to mention very good in combat. I've seen it first hand." Obi-Wan said. Mace just shook his head. "Why are the two teenagers coming with us as well?"

Aayla sighed. "Well, the one is M—my apprentice's sister. And the other is their friend. And besides… as Master Kenobi said; we'll need all the allies we can get. The fight against Darth Sidious will not be an easy one."

Obi-Wan looked over at Mace, who nodded. "Very well. Let's get moving. We have to rescue a Jedi Knight." Aayla looked over at Mace, surprised at the rank he spoke of. _Jedi Knight. Not Padawan. _She smiled to herself.

* * *

The shuttle landed on a lower city platform, where Kristy and AJ were waiting. The boarding ramp lowered and Lara rushed off the ship and to Kristy, who hugged her tightly. "You're alright!"

Lara smiled. "Yeah. Padme' and Rebecca kept me company." Kristy looked past her and saw the rest of the group coming toward them. Aayla looked worried. Mace looked pissed off, as per usual. Obi-Wan just looked like.. Obi-Wan. Anakin's eyes were on Padme' as usual. Rebecca walked up to them from the back of the group. "Let's go get him, then." She said flatly.

"How are we going to do it?" AJ asked. Kristy just smiled. "Let's say, I've got some more favors I've called in."

Suddenly a gunship flew overhead. The group looked up at it, as it lowered down next to them. The hatch door slid open and Delta Squad walked off the ship. "Captain Harrington. You… rang?" Boss said. Kristy smiled smugly. "Thanks for coming, Delta. Commander Smith has been kidnapped by the CSF."

Scorch looked around, confused. "Uh… why did the CSF kidnap him?"

"Scorch…!"

"Right. Sorry. No questions. Forgot…"

"Good. We need you to stage a… diversion at the front entrance of the CSF station just 10 clicks from here."

"Well, I think that can be done."

"Where's Omega?" Sev muttered. Aayla cocked an eyebrow. "Well, they'll be here." Kristy said, blushing slightly at the random question. "Just… get ready. We're getting Matt out in the next hour. Then we're all getting out of the Republic afterwards."

"How…?"

"Kal is setting it up. Relax Fixer."

* * *

Kristy sat in the shuttle, checking the flight systems. The life support system was operational, she'd found, after fixing the exhaust system. She heard footsteps from behind her and she glanced over at Aayla, who had sat down next to her and was staring out the viewport. "You okay?" Kristy asked.

Aayla looked down at her hands in her lap. "There are many ways I could answer that question. Perhaps you mean am I okay, physically? Health wise, I'm perfect. Physically, yes. Mentally, Psychologically…"

She looked over at Kristy, tears forming in her eyes. "I can feel his pain. Through the force. He's in so much pain… I got him into it…" She took a breath, and then let it out, trying to pull herself together.

Kristy sighed. "I could give you a simple 'your-only-a-living-being' lecture and that it's normal to have feelings like this in such a situation. However… I'm not going to. Because you don't need to have me tell you how to feel or why your feeling it. You can figure that for yourself."

She paused for a moment, thinking. Then she grabbed Aayla's hands and gave them a soft squeeze. "But I can tell you this. We'll get him back. And I'm pretty sure the whole Jedi Order thing… just changed. Rules don't apply anymore. The republic no longer exists. So…" she smiled. "Keep that in mind."

Aayla just looked at her. A moment passed and then she smiled back.

* * *

The two piece brown leather tunic was pulled on over the clean blue skin.

The light saber hilt was clipped to the belt. The comm link was placed in a pouch on the side of the belt, along with rations near the light saber hilt. Other miscellaneous pouches lined the belt as well.

The Katarn mark 3 armor was fitted to protect the vital organs at all costs. It even had it's own personal shield generator. The helmet filtered out noises when there was close range explosions and had personal comm channels and temperature controls. The HUD was all out custom and the most advance part of the suit. With a mere blink of an eye, you could track heat sources on the other side of a wall.

DeeCee Seventeen Ehm Blaster Rifles Were checked, rechecked, and checked again, as were it's sniper and anti-armor interchangeable attachments. Gauntlet Vibroblades were cleaned and checked for working condition. Then… it was time for operation Breaking and Entering.

A holo map of the CSF complex and the surrounding environment was set in the center of the room, and was large, it had to be set on the floor and took up a large area. The group; Kristy, Aayla, Mace, Obi-Wan, Yoda, Anakin, Lara, Rebecca, Padme', Fi, Niner, Atin, Darman, Boss, Fixer, Scorch, and Sev stood around it.

Kristy indicated the main entrance to the complex. "The plan works like this; Delta squad. You'll position yourselves here and attempt a false door breach." She indicated the back door of the complex. "Omega squad. You'll attempt your false door breach here."

She indicated the roof. "While you guys are keeping the occupants of the complex… busy, Anakin will be dropping the rest of us off on the roof. We'll then split up into two separate groups – Obi-Wan, Aayla and myself – and – Mace, Yoda, and Anakin. Lara and Rebecca shall stay put with Padme'."

She zoomed the holo map in, showing the layout of the inside of the complex. "There are two roof access points. One here. And one here. My team will enter through the far north. Yoda's team will enter far south. Once in, we'll meet up at this point on the second floor, which is more of a balcony for the first floor. It's a small complex, as you can see."

She indicated the stairwell. "We'll secure the main corridor and then a few of us will make our way to the holding cells which is just down this short corridor here. Hopefully…" She gave a look to Omega and Delta – "The commandos will be holding the entrances. We'll need them clear to get out. After that, Padme' is waiting with out escape shuttle on the back entrance."

She took a breath and let it out. "Any questions?"

Everyone looked around at each other. Then Scorch raised his hand. Kristy looked at him.

"What is a false door breach?"

Sev huffed.

"Di'kut."


	17. Chapter 17

**Chapter Seventeen**

The repulsor lift engines roared to life as Anakin started them up. Everyone took their respective positions, with Kristy dragging behind, a comm link in her hand. As she sat down and strapped herself in, she commented, "The commandos are in position." Obi-Wan nodded. "Then it's our move." Anakin glanced back at everyone. "Alright team. Here we go. Let's go rescue a friend." He activated the thrusters and sent the ship up in the air.

* * *

Scorch examined his explosives ordnance. "Hmm…" He frowned behind his helmet. "False door breach…"

"Six two!" Boss hissed. Scorch turned, following his HUD's sensors which indicated which direction his squad leader was in. "Yeah, boss man?"

"Pick it up. We have to get in place. Captain Harrington will be sending her signal at any time."

"Three eight, I'm not one hundred percent sure on what I'm supposed to do. What's with the door breach being false?"

"Scorch… just do as the Captain says. This mission has to go perfectly. Otherwise…"

Suddenly their comm signals went off. They both answered and suddenly both Delta and Omega squads, along with everyone else who was in on the mission, was in the comm channel too. "Captain." Boss greeted.

"Everyone ready?" Kristy asked from the ship. A quick glance at his squad, and boss nodded. "Everyone's ready."

"Yeah! Got live explosives for this false door breach." Scorch hissed. Sev just grunted something under his breath. "How about you, Omega?"

Niner glanced up at his squad, and they nodded to him. "We're ready and waiting for some action, Captain."

Kristy stood over Anakin's shoulder, as he flew the ship toward the CSF facility, where the squads were already positioned for the assault. "Good. Let's bring him home."

The charges were placed on the blast doors, and blinked twice. Suddenly the timer began to count down with a simple touch of a button. And eagle's eye view of the facility exposed two blasts as both the front and rear entrances were breached; falsely.

The CSF weren't known for their response time, but in this case, the response time was anything but nothing. It was amazing. The security teams open fired, divided upon the two entrances and the two commando squads, who weren't even close to breaking a sweat as they deflected fire off their armor, only to return it from their own weapons.

Scorch shouted over the squad comm, "Fire in the hole!" as he tossed a flash bang grenade, which exploded, causing the CSF team that was attacking them to go blind and deaf at the same time…

From the cockpit of the ship, the flash bangs were just that. A simple flash of white light.

"Take us down, Anakin."

The ship descended quickly, and was hovering over the roof of the complex. The boarding ramp lowered and suddenly the group jumped off the end of the ramp down to the roof. Anakin waved to the cockpit, giving Padme' the signal to depart for the time being.

"Alright. Obi-Wan. Aayla. With me." Kristy said, drawing her DeeCee blaster rifle from her back. Mace turned and nodded to Anakin and Yoda, who followed him as he rushed for the door which took them to the south roof entrance.

The path was clear so far. Kristy led Obi-Wan and Aayla down the stairwell, and down a hall, which led to the balcony of the second level of the complex. She hit the door controls, causing the door to slide open, reveling two CSF soldiers, who drew their blasters and fired in the three's direction.

Obi-Wan and Aayla ignited their sabers and began to deflect the blaster bolts back at the men, who reared up, still firing. Across the hall, behind the soldiers, Mace, Yoda, and Anakin appeared, light sabers at the ready.

"Your finished!" Mace shouted, warning the men to surrender. The men looked between the two groups. Five light sabers and one Blaster Rifle was too much for their under-paid salaries. They threw down their blasters and put their hands up. Kristy rushed forward, and kicked them to their knees.

She took out two pairs of vibro-cuffs and cuffed them to the balcony railing. "Alright. We're almost there. Who wants to join me in getting Matt out of here?"

Aayla jumped forward. And suddenly there was a rumble. Mace glanced around. "We haven't much time. You two go. We'll secure the main corridor." Kristy and Aayla nodded. The two raced down the stairwell, and down the corridor, which led them down a ramp which led to the brig area. As they entered, they saw only one active holding cell. Matt was in it, looking almost dead. Aayla rushed for the cell. Suddenly the lights went out. They both froze where they were standing.

"I sense the dark side." Aayla said softly. Suddenly there was a cackle of a laugh. The lights came back on, though, rather dim. A dark figure – an older being, under the cover of a cloak, stood next to Matt's cell.

"Sidious!" Kristy hissed. Aayla drew her saber. Suddenly the figure extended his hand and Matt was suddenly hanging in mid air by some invisible strings. "I wouldn't try it if I were you!"

Aayla glared at the cloaked figure. "We're here to take him. Alive."

"Never. He will either join me… or face his death. Just as you will."

"Try us!"

Sidious extended his free hand and bolts of electricity shot out, striking Kristy and sending her into the wall with a sickening thud. "Your choice." Sidious hissed. Aayla lowered her blade, but did not switch it off. "Good…" Sidious cooed. "I can feel your hatred! It's growing…"

Suddenly there was a clank as a vent cover fell off the wall. Sidious glanced over as a grenade rolled to his feet. Suddenly everything exploded in a wave of smoke. Aayla was a flash of blue. She threw her blade and hit the control panel for the cell, which dissipated almost instantly. She rushed forward, pulling Matt up into her arms. As she turned and rushed out of the cell, she saw the Bounty Hunter – AJ – Yes, that was her name – pulling Kristy up over her shoulder. The two exchanged nodes and then rushed out of the room – up the ramp – and into the corridor, where Mace, Anakin, Obi-Wan, Yoda and the Commandos were waiting.

Obi-Wan nodded to the two. "Fixer just intercepted a transmission. Republic bombers are heading this way."

AJ glanced over at Aayla. "I think it's time to leave."


	18. Chapter 18

**Chapter Eighteen**

Anakin signaled Padme', as more CSF officers came through the door. Mace and Obi-Wan drew their attention**, **as the ship came into sight. "Alright. Let's move!" Kristy shouted, as Lara and Rebecca rushed out to help board Matt and Aayla on the ship. AJ raced over just under the edge of the second floor balcony. She blasted more CSF officers, before twirling her blasters into the rightful holsters. She quickly activated her Jetpack and shot upwards, landing steadily on the balcony, where she raced up to the ship, as it started to lift off.

Once again, she activated her Jetpack, and shot up, landing on the boarding ramp. She looked back down at the complex, where she saw a cloaked figure standing on the roof, staring after them. She gave him a sarcastic wave, before she turned and rushed into the ship, as Anakin activated the thrusters.

As she entered the cockpit, Kristy glanced back at her, as she stood over Anakin's shoulder. As she turned back to the viewport, she sighed. "Now for the hard part."

"Which would be?"

"Well… getting into hyperspace."

Suddenly an alarm went off. "Incoming ARC-170 fighters." Anakin hissed. "Great…" AJ muttered. The ship rumbled as it was hit by cannon fire. "Exiting the atmosphere… now."

"Entering the coordinates."

"Incoming. Three-o-Clock!"

Anakin yanked the controls to the left and up, to avoid a collision with another ship. "That was fun."

"Coordinates entered."

Anakin yanked the controls to the left again, this time downward. Obi-Wan glanced over at him. "Whenever you are ready, my young padawan."

"Aww, and I was just starting to have fun."

"Well, don't let _me _ruin it for you then."

Kristy leaned over. "Prep."

"Hit it."

Kristy flipped a switch and suddenly the ship shot forward, vanishing among the stars.

* * *

Space. It's a dark and cold place. It's even colder and more dark then ever when your in the middle of a war. And twice as much so when your in the middle of a war you can't win. The small planet of Endor was near the outer rim of the dark and cold space. Chances are, no one would come looking there for a while. Of course, it was going to take a few standard days to get there from where they had been on Coruscant.

Aayla walked down the short corridor that led to the medical bay of the shuttle. The room was dark. She cocked an eyebrow, confused as she entered the room, feeling along the wall for the light controls. Once she found them, the lights came on, dim at first and then grew bright after a moment.

She found Matt, sitting on the bench, staring out the viewport. She moved quietly over and sat next to him. She waited quietly for a minute, until he grabbed her hand with his and held onto it for a few minutes. "Matt…"

"Shhh. Don't speak."

She looked over at him, as he closed his eyes, letting out a deep breath. He opened his eyes again and smiled, as he let go of her hand and put his arm around her and pulled her close to him. "Thank you. For not forgetting me."

Aayla just smiled. "I don't leave anyone behind. You should know that." And then he was staring into her eyes, and she, his. He leaned in, slowly at first, until she followed his lead, and suddenly their lips met for the first time.

Suddenly there was a beeping sound. They both pulled away quickly, surprised by the noise, and Aayla pulled out her comm link and answered it. "Secura."

"We've got a problem."

"I'm on my way up."

She hung up the comm and turned to Matt, who was looking at her.

* * *

"What is it?" Aayla asked, as She entered the cockpit, with Matt directly behind her. Mace turned to her. "We're tracking several battleships that entered hyper space shortly after we did. They're on the same course as we are."

Kristy glanced back and saw Matt. "Your awake!" She exclaimed. Aayla frowned. "How many are we talking about?"

"Two or three."

"We're doomed." Lara muttered. Anakin sighed. "Don't think about the odds. It's all about strategy in the field. If we plan accordingly, we can survive this coming assault."

"Hmm. Correct, Skywalker is. Plan we will. After all, five Jedi, eight commandos, there are here. Survive we can."

"Six Jedi, Master Yoda." Matt stated. "You are not in any shape to be in combat." Obi-Wan said. "I'm in perfect shape, thank you Kenobi." Matt shot back. Suddenly there was a rumble. Everyone looked out the front viewport at the three battleships and one CIS Cruiser.

Anakin frowned. "So much for planning ahead."

"Maybe they'll agree to negotiations." Obi-Wan suggested. A rumble of enemy fire hit the shuttle, giving Obi-Wan an answer. "Guess not."

"Fighters incoming."

"Great! They're going to just blast us to oblivion without even a chance to surrender."

Suddenly there was a beeping from the console. Aayla answered it. "This is Jedi Knight Aayla Secura. Who am I speaking with?"

"This is General Grievous! I will give you one chance to surrender, before I have no choice but to blast you to oblivion."

Matt looked over at Kristy, feeling a bit of déjà' vu. Kristy cocked an eyebrow, feeling the same. "Agreed." Anakin said. Everyone held their breaths suddenly. Grievous just cackled. "Wonderful. You will be boarded. In 5 minutes. Don't go anywhere!"

"Oh, shit." Rebecca hissed. "Relax. Kristy always has a plan." AJ said, giving Kristy a slight wink.


	19. Chapter 19

**Chapter Nineteen**

The airlock extended out from the CIS cruiser and connected to the small shuttle. The battle droids marched toward the airlock as the doors opened. At this point, some serious dramatic music is playing in the background and then cuts off. Obi-Wan frowned as he watched the droids as they entered their ship. "I do hope you know what you are doing, my young friend." He murmured to Anakin.

AJ leaned toward Kristy. "So… what's your plan?"

"I'm not really sure yet." She hissed. AJ pulled on her helmet and drew her blasters. "Well then. Let me know."

"Will do." Kristy murmured. Suddenly there was blaster fire and a loud explosion. Alarms began going off in the cockpit around them. "I forgot one thing." Kristy muttered. Anakin just smirked. "The Commandos."

Suddenly Atin ran in. "You do know we're under attack, correct?"

"Alright. Let the boarding begin." Matt muttered, reaching down to his belt. He felt around and then looked up at Aayla. She blinked. "Oh!" She reached down on her belt and handed him his light saber, which she'd picked up at the CSF Complex.

Anakin glanced over at Obi-Wan with a smirk. Obi-Wan just sighed. "Oh, let me guess. This is where the fun begins?"

Anakin just switched on his light saber and winked at Obi-Wan.

* * *

The airlock was dark and, even slightly creepy. But when it was being operated by droids who had no sense of fear, it was bound to get that way, now wasn't it? As the group of six Jedi, eight commandos, a captain, a Bounty hunter, and two Civvies, marched through the airlock, several shivered from the sight of the dark corridor before them.

"We need to split up." AJ suggested.

"For what?!" Rebecca muttered.

"First off, someone needs to jettison the escape pods. Grievous can't escape." Matt stated. "Then someone needs to shut down the engines. We have to have this bucket at a dead stop."

"And then what?" Aayla asked. "We need a distraction." He turned to Rebecca and smirked. She looked around. "Oh, no!"

"Just… a simple distraction. No need to get shot or captured." He reasoned with her. "Then we'll take Grievous out."

"You do know that there are two other battle cruisers out there, right? All they need is one distress signal to blow this cruiser to hell." Sev said. "That's why I need Fixer and Atin to go hack the system and shut down all comm signals."

"This is nuts!"

"This is war. So, who wants what task?"

* * *

Kristy led Lara, Niner, Atin, Fi, and Darman down the corridor which led to the engines. This was insane. They were on an enemy ship, walking around as if it was normal. Well, it wasn't! The Jedi had ran off to take on Grievous.

Suddenly a squad of battle droids came around the corner. Niner spin his index finger around and suddenly the entire squad rushed forward, and open fired. The droids were quickly a mess on the floor. "This is annoying." Lara murmured. "Tell me about it." Kristy replied softly.

* * *

The clanking sound made Yoda curious. He kept glancing up at the tall young lady, in her bounty hunter armor, helmet on, looking almost like a Mandalorian. She was ready for combat; he felt that much through the force. But she did not have her twin blasters drawn. The Commandos that marched along behind them were also ready for whatever they might have to face in order to prevent the Separatist droid leader from escaping… again.

And then he felt a surge in the force. Something was coming for them. No. It was already there, just seconds away from engaging the group in combat. "Down!" He screeched, force shoving AJ forward onto her face, and Delta Squad backwards on their backs. In a blink of an eye, his light saber flew from his belt, into his hand, and there was a glow of green as the Magnaguards rushed out to meet him.

There was a flash of green all over – and not just a light saber blade either. AJ got to her feet, as a Magnaguard gave her a glance, and then turned, it's electrostatic force pike ready for attack. "Bring it, you bucket of bolts!" She muttered.

* * *

Rebecca walked down the corridor, alone, and unarmed. The turbo lift was just ahead, and there was no movement whatsoever. As she felt herself move into a jogging state, the turbo lift door suddenly slid open and two battle droids stepped out and looked her up and down. "Uh… freeze." One battle droid said to her. It then turned to the other battle droid and nodded. "Hey, roger. Take her into custody. The General will want to see her as soon as possible."

The second battle droid nodded and walked over to Rebecca, who didn't move. Suddenly there was a flash of blue as Matt's light saber slashed the battle droid's hands off, leaving it unarmed. Mace walked up and drew his blade on the second which started to freak out. "Uh-oh! Uh-oh! Roger, do something!"

The second droid looked down at it's missing hands. "Uh, Roger, I'm unable to assist you at the moment." Then it looked up at Aayla, Anakin, and Obi-Wan whom had stepped up with their blades drawn. "Hey, Roger…"

The first battle droid looked around. "Uh, yeah Roger?"

"You might want to call for some backup. We've got five Jedi here."

"Really, I didn't notice. Their light sabers cutting your hands off and everything."

Obi-Wan cocked an eyebrow. "I think you'll be taking US to General Grievous."

Mace nodded. "NOW."

"Roger, roger."

* * *

The rolling metal was coming down the corridor. And faster then ever. "Take up defensive positions, Omega!" Kristy shouted. Lara blinked. "So this is what you've been doing while I was lounging on the beach?"

"Darman. Anti-Armor…" Kristy glanced at Lara. "You were on the beach?!"

There was an explosion as a droidika was blown to hell. "One down…"

"A few dozen to go?"

Kristy pulled her blaster rifle and blew off a few shots, taking out two battle droids. "Yeah. Padme' was really nice. Introduced us to the Queen of Naboo and everything!" Kristy frowned slightly. "I'm working my ass off in the war and you're having brunch with the Queen of Naboo?"

She blasted a few more droids when suddenly there was a ruble as Atin knocked off a few grenades into the droids. The sound of the Droidka's dual twin blaster cannons were at full power; pewpew – pewpew – pewpew – pewpew. "Damn droid." Fi swore.

"I got your shebs right here, droid stock pile!" Niner shouted, lighting up his anti-armor attachment. There was an explosion, suddenly the commandos began to move up. The engines were just on the east corridor. They were almost there. Kristy only hoped she would get to see the beach – with the others.

* * *

The Magnaguards were deadly. It wasn't just a myth. They were like a robotic Jedi with force pikes. AJ ducked as one swing at her. She did a backwards summersault and came back up on her feet, and open fired with her twin blasters, which didn't seem to have any affect whatsoever.

She gritted her teeth and holstered them. She reach down on the leg and drew a short vibro-sword. It could hold up against light sabers, so she would have no problem with force pikes.

She rushed forward, and the two weapons collided with a loud electrical surge from the pike, and a clank from the blade. The two – robot – and – human – pushed against each other – one being slightly stronger then the other – due to robotic strength. But for those who didn't know AJ, wouldn't know she wasn't about to give up to a stupid droid.

She gave in through, and instead, bent to her right, spun around, bending to her right still, and came up on the left as the droid went right, and the blade found it's mark, taking the head, and then cutting straight down the middle, taking it's CPU unit, shutting it down completely.

She sighed and looked over at Yoda, who was resting in the middle of a pile of destroyed droids. Delta squad stood by, looking bored. They hadn't gotten a part of the action. She took off her helmet and ran her hand through her hair and winked at Scorch. "Hold on buddy. You'll get to use those explosives soon enough."

* * *

The bridge doors opened and the battle droids walked in – one missing it's hands. The droid leader – General Grievous – turned and went wide eyed at the sight. "What is this!?" The two droids turned to one another and then pointed at the door. "They did it!" both droids said in unison.

There was a hissing sound. Followed by four more individual hissing sounds. Then there were four blue glowing bars and a purple glowing bar outside in the darkness of the corridor. "JEDI!" Grievous screamed, pulling his four blades as four of his Magnaguards surrounded him.

Mace walked into the bridge, with the others around him. He pointed his blade at the General. "General Grievous. You… are under arrest."


	20. Chapter 20

**Chapter Twenty**

"You Fools!" Grievous screamed. "You think you can stop me?!"

"That's exactly what we're going to do!" Anakin hissed. Obi-Wan sighed at Anakin. "Steady, my Padawan…"

Anakin grinned cockishly. "Don't worry Master. I won't make that mistake again." Suddenly The Magnaguards rushed forward, as Grievous turned and rushed towards the front of the bridge, knocking battle droids away from his path.

Obi-Wan leapt forward, and kicked one of the Magnaguards to the ground, and swung his blade around striking down a battle droid. Anakin followed his lead, and rushed forward striking his blade against the force pike. He leaped upwards as the droid spun the pike around, and deflected a blow in mid-air before landing softly on his feet and clashing blades again with the droid.

Mace rushed forward and leapt through the air, landing behind Grievous, who turned, swinging all four blades at once. Mace dropped and rolled to the side, and came up, locking his single purple blade with Grievous's four blades.

Matt stared at the Magnaguard rushed at him. He cocked an eyebrow and suddenly thrusted his hand out towards the droid, sending it flying backwards. He leapt forward, landing on top of it, only to be kicked to the side. He twisted around and parried a blow from the droid with his blade, before returning the kick.

Aayla stepped forward, obviously in no rush. Her blade at her side, she glared at the droid, and held out her hand, and closed her eyes, rolling her hand up into a ball. The droid was lifted into the air, and suddenly it began to slowly get crunched up into a ball of twisted metal. She released her force grip and it fell harmlessly to the floor. Several nearby Battle droids looked at her. "Uh-oh…" they mumbled.

* * *

Things had gotten quiet. Kristy figured the Jedi had begun their assault on the bridge, causing all units to converge on the bridge to help the General out. That only helped her team. And AJ's team. She waved Omega up, and Lara cocked an eyebrow. Kristy glanced over at her. "What?" She asked. Lara just shrugged her shoulders. "You are one fascinating leader."

"Yeah, yeah…"

She turned and pointed to the door in front of them. "Open the door. Quietly." Fi stepped up to the door's control console and gave a thumbs up. This was going to be easy for him. As he worked the console with one hand, blaster in the other, Kristy looked at Lara. "It's time to dawn a blaster, my dear."

"Lovely." Sarcasm was heavy in Lara's voice. Kristy took out a small blaster pistol and slapped it into Lara's hand. "Simple. Aim and pull the trigger."

"Gotta love simplicity."

"Door's unlocked." Fi said. Kristy nodded to Niner. "Let's move." She said.

* * *

AJ followed Master Yoda down the corridor, with Delta following her. They came to a stop in front of a closed door, and Yoda waved his small hand at the controls and suddenly the door slid open, revealing an empty room, with Escape pods lined up on the wall.

AJ looked at Scorch. "Go to town." She said, with a smile. Scorch let out a whoop of excitement as he dug out the explosive charges from his pack. Suddenly there was an explosion behind them. AJ turned, drawing her twin blasters, and without hesitation, open fired, taking out three battle droids, only to have five replace them.

"Do your thing Scorch. We'll cover you. Make it quick through!" Fixer hissed, taking up a defensive position. Sev took out his sniper attachment and aimed through the scope. He fired once, retargeted, fired, and did it all over again, taking out five targets in 30 seconds.

"Scrap pile… rejects!" Boss hissed, tossing a grenade out into the pack of droids. It exploded, sending up droid parts into the air. They crashed to the ground as droidikas rolled in and unfolded. Their personal shields activated and they open fired.

* * *

Obi-Wan back flipped as the droid took up an offensive attack. He held his blade out in front of him, as the droid advanced toward him. As he looked around, he saw everyone was dealing with their own thing. He smiled to himself and then charged at the droid. The light saber and force pike clashed again, up down to the left, quickly, and Obi-Wan watched the way the droid fought him, and suddenly ducked, brought his light saber up, and jammed it into the control unit of the droid, bringing it down quickly.

Anakin kicked at the droid, who kicked back harder. Anakin sliced it's leg off. But it just hopped toward him on one leg. "Are you kidding me?" He muttered, and kicked the droid down on the ground, and slammed his blade down onto it's CPU, shutting it down. He turned and saw Mace engaging Grievous. Great. He was missing all the fun.

Meanwhile, Matt had sent the droid flying backwards into the wall. It stood up and shook it's robotic head, and then spun it's force pike in a show off move and then bounded toward Matt, who stood, waiting for it. Seconds later he rushed toward the droid and they met in the middle, and Matt dropped, rolled to the right of the droid, slashing it's legs out from under it, and coming back up and slicing directly down the middle of it. He glanced around and saw Aayla finishing off two battle droids before turning toward Grievous, who'd engaged Mace.

Four Jedi against One droid commander. Now they had it all under control. Matt smiled.

* * *

Two more droidikas rolled up, making a total of six, as they continued to pound their blaster cannons against AJ's cover. They'd ran out of anti-armor rounds and grenades, and blaster fire wasn't going to make it through the droids' shields. It was a hopeless situation. She leapt up and fired off a furry of rounds before ducking back to avoid getting shot. Master Yoda was a flurry with his light saber, deflecting shots off when she made a move.

But he was getting tired. She could tell. He slumped down when she was under cover, his ears drooping down as he sat there. Suddenly they all heard Scorch's voice. "Charges are set."

"We can't blow them yet. We have to get clear first!" Boss shouted over the droid fire. "We don't have the time! Engage your shields!" AJ screamed back, and ripped the remote from his hands, and hit the switch. There was a flash and suddenly everything went silent.

* * *

Alarms were going off all over the place – again. Kristy led Omega through the door quietly, and they spotted the engine consoles. "Darman. Plant 'em. Everyone else, set up defensive positions. No doubt they'll be here any minute."

Suddenly the entire ship shuddered and there was the sound of an explosion. Kristy glanced back at Darman, who looked over at her and shrugged. "Damn Scorch. Easy…"

* * *

Grievous was pinned in a corner. And he was pissed. "Damn You, Jedi!" He screamed. Mace held his blade out in front of him, defensively. "Surrender and you won't be harmed!"

Grievous laughed. "Harmed? You won't harm me! You'll destroy me!"

"Only if I must!"

Suddenly Grievous raised all of his blades. Mace held out his hand and focused, His hand tightened up slightly and Grievous was raised into the air. He began to choke rapidly. "Ahhhhggghhha!" He screamed.

"You should have surrendered." Anakin said. Suddenly Matt winced. Aayla grabbed him as he sank to the floor, falling onto his knees. "What is it?" Obi-Wan asked, kneeling down next to him. Matt was now sweating profusely. "Something…" He looked up at Aayla with a terrified look. "Has happened. Terrible. I'm not sure what."

There was a clank as Grievous hit the ground, dead from lack of oxygen. Matt turned and rushed through the bridge doors. Aayla looked at Obi-Wan with a look, before they all turned and rushed after him.


	21. Chapter 21

**Chapter Twenty One**

Matt ran down the hall of the ship as quickly as he could, but not even the force could help him go fast enough. He finally stopped in the middle of a hall, panting heavily. "Matt?!" He looked up and saw Kristy, Lara, and Omega squad rush over to him, as Aayla and the rest of the Jedi arrived behind him. "What is it?"

Matt closed his eyes. Then he stood and pushed past them, and turned the corner, only to find the entrance caved in, nothing but a pile of durasteel. He held out his hands, and closed his eyes. He hadn't much time. Suddenly several large pieces of rubble lifted up into the air and floated to the side. As they crashed to the floor, Aayla walked up next to Matt, and followed his lead. Suddenly more debris was lifted up into the air and set aside.

Kristy, Lara, and Omega watched, as the rest of the Jedi stood along side Matt and Aayla, and used the force to clear the debris from the path. As the last bit was lifted and thrown away, Matt opened his eyes, as a clanking sound came from the darkness and smoke.

The familiar armor of AJ filled Matt's vision and He dropped to his knees, relieved. AJ took off her helmet as Delta formed up behind her, their armor dust ridden. "I think it's time to leave this bucket of bolts."

"Grievous is dead."

"Mission accomplished."

The ship suddenly shuddered. Boss checked his HUD. "We've got multiple ships that just came out of hyperspace. They're joining the other two cruises on an attack run."

AJ rolled her eyes. "Like I said… time to leave."

"We've already destroyed the escape pods."

"And the engines…" Scorch muttered. Anakin cocked an eyebrow. "We need to make our way back to the docking hatch and get back to Padme'

"Right, you are." Yoda said, coming up behind AJ. Suddenly everyone's comm links went off. They all answered them and Palpatine appeared in each of their hands. "Greetings, Jedi…"

"What the hell do you want?"

"I have a proposal for you."

"What's that, surrender and you'll die quickly?" Kristy shot. Palpatine chuckled. "Surrender and I'll let you live. Under my empire!"

Anakin sneered. "I'll see you soon. And then we'll see who will be living under what government."

"Ah, Skywalker! How is the lovely Padme' Amidala doing?"

Anakin cocked an eyebrow. "What?"

"Your wife. And soon-to-be-mother of your children."

Anakin just wore a look of surprise on his face. "I did you a favor, Anakin. I removed the one obstacle that was preventing you from being with her forever. The Jedi Order. Or most of it at least…" He glared at Mace, Yoda, and Aayla. "You can live with her… forever. Just join me, Anakin…"

Matt just stared at Anakin. Omega and Delta held their weapons at the ready, knowing damn well they'd never win if he switched sides suddenly. Suddenly Anakin flinched. "Annie…" A voice echoed through the halls. It sent a shiver down Kristy's back. "Padme'…" Anakin murmured.

AJ tapped her foot. "Skywalker! This is foolishness. He's using his dark powers to manipulate you! Don't be a jackass. Focus on…" She was cut off when suddenly Palpatine's hologram was replaced with Padme's image. "Padme! NO!"

"Destroy them, ANAKIN!" Palpatine screamed. Suddenly there was a flash of blue as Anakin pulled his light saber and flew around. Mace flipped backward, to avoid the blade, and Yoda leapt forward and engaged his blade with Anakin's.

"Anakin! No!" Aayla screamed, drawing her blade. Matt just watched. "He's gone." He murmured. He began to shake. "I thought… I could maybe change it. But… nothing can be changed. Fate is…set."

Anakin shoved Yoda backwards. The Commandos scattered, taking up defensive positions and open fired all at once on Kristy's command. "NOW!" The blaster fire was massive, when it came from eight commandos.

But Anakin's blade was unseen as it moved like light around the room, deflecting the blaster fire at every angle. Suddenly the blaster fire stopped and everything seemed to slow to a crawling stop. Anakin extended his arm out toward Omega Squad and suddenly a burst of electricity shot out, striking them all.

A second later, the electricity stopped and he turned his hand, palm up, sending all four commandos into the ceiling. Then he flipped his hand back down and slammed his hand toward the ground, leaving them in a pile of armor and durasteel. He then turned and waved his hand at Delta Squad, sending them flying through a pair of blast doors behind them.

As time sped back up to normal, Mace leapt after Anakin, who merely side-stepped Windu, and slid his blade after Mace, first taking his arm, then cutting his clavicle, before he spun his saber in his hand, taking his left leg off. Mace fell in a pile of pieces.

Yoda stood, and glared at Anakin. Obi-Wan stood ready, as Anakin stared down at Mace's body. His eyes were bloodshot, and his hand gripped his hilt powerfully, with his free hand squeezed tightly in a fist. "You… can not hurt her. I won't let you! Any of you!"

"Anakin! No one would hurt Padme' except for Palpatine." Obi-Wan said. Anakin turned his head and looked at Obi-Wan. "That's just the Jedi Order talking Obi-Wan. And you know… that the Jedi Order is dead. I am the only one standing. Or… will be in a moment."

Suddenly he charged at Obi-Wan, and the two blades locked, each one gritting their teeth against the other's power. Yoda turned to AJ. "Leave at once, you must. All of you. Get to safety. Handle this, Obi-Wan and I will."

AJ pulled on her helmet and nodded. She looked over at Kristy, who was standing over Omega. Her hands were trembling. AJ stepped toward her. She touched her shoulder gently. "Kay, it's time to leave."

"They never had a chance!"

"Their deaths will be in a vain if we don't leave and win the fight later!"

There was a shout from Obi-Wan as the blades clashed again, over and over. Kristy looked up at AJ. She looked past her, at Matt and Aayla. She watched as Aayla closed her eyes, and suddenly she turned from Matt and rushed after Yoda, Obi-Wan, and Anakin.

"Aayla! NO!"

She didn't turn back as the blast doors closed and the loud clanking sound shuddered, indicating the doors were locked. Matt rushed over and drew his blade, shoving it into the center of the door, in a feeble attempt to melt the locking mechanism. "We can't go anywhere." Kristy muttered, "Not just yet."

She rushed over to Matt. His entire focus was set on the lock. His blade was slowly melting it. "Matt."

"Kay… not now."

"Step back. I'll open it."

They both looked to their right and saw Scorch, Boss, Fixer, and Sev standing there. Each one held a detonation pack.


	22. Chapter 22

**Chapter Twenty Two**

Matt had never been the social type. Unlike his Mother and Sister, he couldn't just start a conversation out of the blue in the middle of Wal-Mart with a complete stranger. It's not that he didn't want to. It's that he just… couldn't. He had no clue where to start. He blamed it on being home schooled. All those incidences in that one public school had made him into a shy person.

Ever since then, he's tried to find a place where he would fit in, shy or not. As he looked around, he watched as Kristy helped Scorch with the detonation packs that were starting to line the edges of the doors. He closed his eyes, thinking back on how they met not three months ago.

That stupid forum conference. He chuckled to himself softly. Their relationship started on a forum to begin with – a Star Wars one no less. The two had connected quickly on the forum, and it had become a real friendship between the two. They'd even dated each other online, though that kind of relationship never really worked for either of them.

That forum was also where he'd met Blazer. He didn't really know his real name. Blazer had once said it was Ryan Adams. But that was after he told him it was something else.

He was never sure what it was. So he'd stuck with Blazer. He should have known Blazer was trouble when he ended up being the cause of a ban on the forum, placed on Blazer, Kristy, and himself. He sighed. He had been a good guy. The day before the conference, they'd hung out, even went paintballing.

He'd been surprised when he saw Kristy at the conference. And he was even more surprised when he saw AJ and Lara there too. AJ. He looked over at her. She hadn't really changed much, except for the Mando armor and twin blasters. She was still the hardheaded, independent young woman he'd met online two or three years back. He cleared his throat softly, as the team continued to work.

He looked over at Lara, who was sitting with Rebecca, counting rations. Shy Lara. He smiled. He'd always found it to be a little awkward when he was on MSN with her. But then again, the two never really shared much in common, except for the love of writing, being friends with Kristy, and forums. That didn't mean he didn't consider her a friend though. He hoped she knew that.

He closed his eyes, thinking about Kate. He destroyed someone he'd loved once with all his heart. And he'd done it without remorse and hesitation. And he had been prepared to do the same to Blazer. In a way. Matt considered himself to be a forgiving person. But in the most recent situations he'd been put through, he felt that the time for forgiveness had been replaced by the time for action; They both were going to kill them. Kill him.

Matt opened his eyes as Scorch's voice filled his ears. "Charges placed." The memories of the past vanished with-in the few seconds that it took him to stand up. "Detonator." Matt said. Boss hesitated and Kristy nodded to him. He nodded back and handed Matt he hand held device. He turned it around in his hands, examining it. "Stand back." He ordered. Everyone took cover as Matt stood off to the side of the doors. He counted to three and then without hesitation, pushed the button.

The blast was loud enough to make him go deaf for 30 seconds, as the commandos rushed into the corridor. Kristy, AJ, Rebecca, and Lara rushed in after them. Matt stood for a moment, listening to the quiet. No light sabers were clashing. No grunting for exhaustion due to the extensive battle. Just, quiet.

He turned and followed the others into the corridor, where all they saw was rubble from the explosion – and nothing more. Anakin, Yoda, Obi-Wan, and Aayla had vanished. "We're too late."

"You are never too late. In fact… you are just in time." They all turned to their right, down another corridor, and saw Aayla in a force hold in the air, her own light saber held up to her neck on an invisible string. Anakin stepped from the darkness next to her and glared at them.

"That's a cute trick, fly boy." AJ snarled at Anakin. "But I'm not impressed. Release her, and We'll take some mercy on you."

Anakin glared at her. "Shut up, bounty hunter. You have no part in this. Leave and I won't kill you, like I'm going to kill them."

"The Chancellor has brainwashed you, you moron. We can go save Padme'. You don't have to turn to the dark side." Matt said.

"You shut up. You and your friends need to leave this world. Go back to where you came from!" Anakin snarled.

"That's impossible when we have no idea how we got here!"

"Then I guess you die!"

Suddenly Matt felt something slush under his boots. He looked down and saw a small puddle of water. He looked over at Kristy, who was drenched in sweat… or water… or both. She looked rather aggravated. Matt turned back to Anakin. "Where's Obi-Wan?"

"He's… indisposed at the moment."

"Matt… just, go." Aayla said softly, almost a whisper. Matt swallowed. Was she out of her fierfeking mind? Anakin just smiled at this small plea. "Yeah… MATT. Leave. I'll take care of her. Permanently."

Matt swallowed again. "I'm not leaving. Not without her."

Lara and Rebecca both backed away for some reason. AJ was staring. "Matt… Kristy…"

"The only one who can stay behind permanently… is you Skywalker."

Suddenly Matt shoved both hands forward, send an invisible wave of force energy directly into Anakin, sending him flying backwards. Aayla and the light saber fell to the ground and Matt rushed over to her. Kristy stared, as did AJ, Lara, Rebecca and Delta Squad.

He dropped to his knees and pulled Aayla up into his arms. "Why… did you do that?" She asked, confused. He let out a sigh. "You Jedi. Don't you know what emotions are? I did it because I…"

"You fool!"

"Look out!" AJ screamed. Kristy put her hands together, palms facing outward, and shot a blast of water at Anakin, sending him back against the wall again. AJ leapt in front of Kristy, twin blasters in hand. Time seemed to slow down for her, as she slid through the air, aiming carefully.

She watched as he went for his light saber. She fired her blasters, and time sped up again as she landed on the floor, sliding to cover as the blaster bolts slammed into Anakin's chest. His eyes went wide. He dropped to his knees. Kristy rushed over to him, as Matt force pulled his saber from his belt and clipped it to his own.

"Were is Obi-Wan? Yoda?!"

Anakin snickered as he sucked in air. "Dead. I killed them all. Well… almost all of you."

"You son of a bitch. Where's Sidious?"

"Waiting. At the Jedi Temple for me… and probably you."

"Do you know how we got here? Does Sidious?"

"I'll see you in the force. When He destroys you…" He took a breath. "…all." He gasped, then fell silent and closed his eyes, unmoving.

Kristy shoved his body backwards against the wall and collapsed on the floor, shaking. "Kristy…"

"Get ready to leave. We're going to find Sidious. I've got a few questions for him…"


	23. Chapter 23

**Chapter Twenty Three**

The remaining members of the large group that had been sucked into the cruiser via the airlock now raced down the corridor, heading straight back to that very airlock. They had little time to get the hell away from the cruiser. More than likely, Grievous had a failsafe installed on it.

That and they had to find a stop Sidious before the new empire got way out of hand to the point where they would have to wait for Luke to stop it. That would take a few dozen years. They didn't have that long. They had to get back to their world. Not this one. As they rushed through the airlock, Fixer and Scorch jumped into the pilot's seats. AJ, Rebecca, Lara, and Kristy took seats behind them. Boss and Sev rushed to man the gun turrets.

Matt and Aayla just stood behind the seated group, unable to do anything more. "Prepare for departure."

Scorch glanced over at Fixer. "Literally."

Fixer jammed the control stick forward, and there was a shudder all around them as the ship pulled away, ripping free of the airlock. "Shields up at max."

"Already there."

"Hang on folks, this is going to get bumpy." Fixer screamed. Suddenly the ship shook hard. Matt reached up and grabbed the ceiling for support, and grabbed Aayla's shoulder to steady her as well.

The ship shot forward, but not before the cruisers behind them open fired. "Damage report?" Kristy asked. Scorch looked about for indicators. "Rear shields are gone. But the good news is, we're clear."

"Entering hyperspace in 10 seconds."

There were several clicks as Fixer and Scorch worked on the controls. Suddenly the stars shot past them, and became a blur of white and grey. They were indeed clear of the now imperial ships. As Matt lowered his head and took a breath of ease, He felt Aayla touch his hand ever so gently.

He glanced up and met her eyes, which gave a look that told him to follow her as she turned away and left the cockpit. He glanced back at Kristy and the rest, whom were focused, or seemed as much, on getting to the Jedi temple. He sighed and followed Aayla, who he found in the holding bay, where the hyper drive was in use. "Matt." She started, "I… would like you to finish what you were going to say back there." She turned and looked at him.

He opened his mouth but nothing came out. He was suddenly at a loss for words. He didn't understand it. "The Jedi have rules, Aayla. I know that. But I'm not, or will I ever be a Jedi. I'm a human being."

"So the rules don't apply to you, then?"

Matt stared at Aayla, confused. "That's not what I meant. And even if that's what I did mean, it doesn't matter. The Jedi order is all but destroyed. The rules… the code. It doesn't exist anymore!"

"Attachment is forbidden!"

"But compassion is not! And that, is unconditional love."

Suddenly he pulled Aayla into his arms and their lips met. She had a finch of a thought to fight him, but then let the kiss consume her entire soul, pushing into his lips with hers. A few seconds went by and suddenly she shoved him away. "No!" She looked at the ground. "We can't. Not yet."

"Aayla…"

She looked at him. "I don't deny my feels for you, Matt. But this… it has to wait. Or it will get us all killed."

He stared at her, his face suddenly mixed with sadness, happiness, and anger, frustration, and everything else. He sighed, and ran his hand through his hair, before nodding quickly. "You are right. Completely." They stood, looking away from each other.

"You should get some rest." He said, "We've got a fight ahead of us. You'll need your energy. For Sidious."

* * *

They were well on their way to Coruscant, but it would be several hours before they actually got there. After all. Endor wasn't exactly close to the core worlds. Kristy turned and marched out of the cockpit, tired. She found herself collapsed in her cot. She closed her eyes, and moments later, she heard footsteps, followed by someone climbing into the cot above hers. She opened her eyes and sat up. "Kristy?"

She cocked her eyebrow. It was one of the commandos. But which one exactly? They all sounded almost the same sometimes. "Scorch?" She asked. There was a pause. "Yeah. It's me. Scorch." She breathed a sigh of relief for some strange reason. Maybe she was glad she didn't mistake him for Sev or Boss. Not that he would have taken offense to it. It happened all the time with clones.

"How are you holding up?" He asked. Kristy thought for a moment. "I'm… hanging in there."

"Yeah, me too."

There was quiet. Suddenly he dropped down from his cot and sat next to her on her cot. "I can't get the image out of my head, Kay."

She looked over at him. "What image?"

"Omega Squad. The way Skywalker just…" He shuddered. Kristy grabbed his hand suddenly and held it tightly. "What he did was wrong. And he paid for it. And now, so will Sidious."

He looked down at his hand. And her hand. Kristy did too. Then they looked up at each other. "Kay… I feel, kind of funny."

"So do I, Scorch…" She knew exactly what that feeling was too. It wasn't any kind of nerve gas. It wasn't darkness. It was love. Hope. Strong feelings of both. And she knew it could get them both killed in the end. But at that moment, she didn't care. As he laid her on her back, their lips met, and a course of adrenaline rushed through their veins.

They were heading for their last battle. The one that would decide the fate of not only the Star Wars Galaxy, but the lives of innocent, young people from another world. They would either die fighting for what they believed, or they would live for what they believed. Either way. She was going to feel loved one more time.


	24. Chapter 24

**Chapter Twenty Four**

The blockade of Imperial ships was massive. Everyone stared out the view ports in awe. There had to be a half a dozen star destroyers, each carrying three fleets of tie fighters. There were a few dozen gunboats, just orbiting the star destroyers. "Have they spotted us yet?" AJ asked.

Kristy shook her head. "I don't believe so…" She breathed, not daring to make a sound, as if the imperials would suddenly be alerted to their presence. "Anyone see a way through?" Boss asked. Matt leaned into the view port, scanning with the rest of them.

"Negative. They have their basis covered."

"Lovely." Sev muttered.

"Well, we can't just sit around here all day." Scorch muttered. He pushed the throttle forward, sending the ship hurtling toward the blockade. Fixer almost popped his helmet off and bashed it into Scorch's head. "Are you trying to get us…"

"Look!"

Everyone turned to the forward view port as they passed into the blockade. "They're not firing on us."

"…killed?" Fixer finished. "As always." Scorch replied. Everyone suddenly relaxed, despite the fact that they still had stop Sidious. "Head straight for the temple. We're going to end this today." Aayla said.

"Yes, Master Secura."

Matt turned to Rebecca and Lara. "You two ready for this?" He asked, concerned for them both. Rebecca just shrugged. "I want to go home. He has to know how to get us back there. So yeah…" Rebecca looked up at Lara, who nodded. "We're ready."

Matt nodded, forcing a smile. "Good. We're going to get home."

He turned and saw Aayla standing, just down the short corridor, staring at him. She seemed to be contemplating something in her head. He forced his head to turn away from her. He closed his eyes and let out a breath slowly. This wasn't going to work out well, regardless of the result of the battle.

He turned and headed for the cargo bay, as Kristy came through the doorway. She glanced at Lara and Rebecca. "Hey girls. Just follow my lead out there, okay? Trust your gut, and you'll survive."

She looked toward the cargo bay. "He okay?"

Lara shrugged and then tilted her head toward the cockpit, where Aayla was. "I think he's got something on his mind, and he doesn't know what to do with it."

Kristy nodded slowly. "I'll check on him." She murmured.

* * *

The cargo bay was small, and packed with junk all around the room. She entered with caution of knocking something over. She found Matt leaning against the wall behind several crates. "Matt…?"

He turned, startled partially. "Oh, hey Kristy. How are you holding up?" He asked. She shrugged. "Well, between trying to comfort a Clone Commando, and vice versa, and prepping for a battle I may not survive, I'm doing pretty damn good, mate."

He looked up and chuckled. "Scorch?"

"He's a 12 year old kid, if you think about it."

"Good point. You could go to jail for molestation."

Kristy laughed suddenly. Matt just chuckled softly and pulled her into a hug with one arm. "Matt." She started, hugging him back, "She loves you, you know." She lost his arm from around her. "What did she say?"

"Nothing. I can see it by the way she looks at you."

He went quiet for a moment. She frowned. "Matt…"

"Yeah, I know you're right. But I can't get rid of this bad feeling. Something's going to happen to her. And you. And all of us."

"Relax. Sidious has nothing on two Jedi, Five Commando, A Bounty Hunter, and Two Civilians."

Matt couldn't help but smile. "Besides. You had us facing worst disasters in that one saga of yours. What was it called? Explosion or something?"

"The Explosion."

"Yeah. That one." He sighed and ran his hand through his hair, which had grown long and scruffy. Suddenly there was a beep from both their wrists. Kristy answered her comm. "You guys might want to see this." AJ said.

"Coming…"

* * *

The ship was approaching the landing platform for the Jedi Temple. Or what was left of it. The Temple was on fire, lighting up the city with its bright, tall flames. "Oh. My. God." Aayla murmured. Matt, Kristy, and AJ looked over at her. "My thoughts exactly."

"There's someone in the Chambers." Everyone's attention shifted up to the main tower. Indeed, there was a dark figure standing in the center of the council chambers. "Sidious." Matt hissed. "Get into positions everyone." Kristy said, nodding to everyone.

The time had come.

* * *

The boarding ramp lowered to the ground, and a male human and a blue Twi'lek marched out and started toward the front entrance of the temple, which had several dozen clone troopers from the 501st still guarding it. As they walked forward, Matt glanced up at a slight glow of two jetpack engines overhead. They landed on the side of the building and AJ turned and nodded down to the tem both. Aayla nodded back. AJ replaced her helmet and ducked into the ventilation shaft.

As the two Jedi approached the troopers, the commanding clone moved forward, stopping them in their tracks. "Halt. This area is off limits to civilians and visitors. A lock down is in place for a reason. Return to your vehicle and evacuate the area immediately."

"That won't be happening tonight, Captain. We're here to see the Emperor. I can assure you, we're expected."

The trooper stopped moving for a brief second, as if he'd lost all sense of reality. "Alright. You're both cleared for entry."

The clones parted and the Jedi entered the temple, unharmed. For now.

* * *

The main hall of the temple was in ruins. Shattered stone and durasteel and random other debris. Matt put his wrist to his mouth. "We're in. Over."

Kristy hit the switch and responded. "Copy. AJ's directly overhead. She should make it to the Chambers a few minutes before you do, provided you don't run into any unexpected problems."

"Well, that's to be expected. We're talking Sidious here."

"Exactly. Over and out. Be careful."

Matt and Aayla trailed on toward the turbo lift that would take them up to the council chambers with no delay. That was, if it still worked.

The controls outside were switched off. Unglowing. Aayla hit them several times. "Fierfek." She cursed. Matt cocked an eyebrow and looked at her. She was flustered. "Hanging with Mando Clones too long."

Suddenly the controls lit up. "Look out!" Aayla screamed. She force pushed Matt to the side as the lift doors opened up, and a dark trooper open fired with a energy blaster, which sent Aayla soaring backwards into the rubble of the temple's main hall behind them.

"Aayla! NO!" Matt screamed, leaping to his feet. Everything was a blur as his light saber hilt flew from his belt and into his hands. The blue blade came to life with a thick 'hum', which was quickly followed by the sick sound of flesh and metal being cut down into several large pieces without a chance to repent or defend themselves.

He found himself standing in the middle of the turbo lift, looking down at the destroyed dark trooper. He looked up at where Aayla was laying, unmoving. He took a step toward her, and the lift doors slid shut quickly, without a word. Not even his screams could make it stop or open now.


	25. Chapter 25

**Chapter Twenty Five**

The sound of the screams startled AJ at first, before she shook her head and forced herself to ignore the sound. She had her part to do, and she couldn't lose focus because someone was in trouble. She blinked, thinking of Skirata and Vau. The two Mando'ade who had taught her all the stuff she knew ever since she arrive in this universe.

She trailed through the ventilation shafts, as if they were sidewalks. She stopped suddenly, as she looked at a screen on her arm. "Kristy. I've arrived. What's the Jedi's status?"

"Secura's down, Matt is continuing to target."

"Are you serious?"

"He didn't have much choice. Someone forced the lift to close and move on before he could step off to retrieve Secura."

AJ nodded and suddenly smirked behind her helmet. She knew that Matt wouldn't have willingly left her behind. There was a reason behind everything he did. This time is was a forced cause and effect.

"Copy that. Orders?"

"Hold position. I'll alert you when Matt is near. Over."

AJ sat back in the vents, and waited, sharpening her vibro-blade to pass the time.

* * *

"Commandos! Lock and load DeeCees!" Boss shouted. Kristy walked in slowly, her clone armor on, but her helmet under her right arm, DeeCee in her left hand. Boss nodded her way. "Captain on deck!"

Kristy walked around and faced all four Commandos as they stood next to each other, like the true bothers that they all were.

"Boss. Fixer. Sev. Scorch. You were all more than trained for combat. You were bred for it. While it wouldn't wasn't my idea, I still feel responsible for sending you into situations over and over, even though the Republic you were supposed to be fighting for is now gone."

She looked at each and every one of the four commandos. "Buckets off, please."

The four looked around at one another, before slowly removing their helmets and tucking them under their arms. Kristy took in a breath as she looked around at each of them. They all looked the same. Except for Kristy saw the differences. Their personalities. The Cloners could control the speed of their aging, and how they learned, fought, and all that jazz. But the one thing they could not do, was control the personalities that each clone adopted. It wasn't on purpose. It was just they was… things were.

"No one cares about you. No one cared about you. No one but the group of people you are with and fighting for at this very moment. No one except for me especially. These past few months and even days have been pure hell on Mustafar. But I am proud to have fought alongside all of you! So with that said…"

She let out a deep breath, and loaded her DeeCee. "Let's go kill this new empire and bring back our old Republic. Vode An!"

"Vode An!" The commandos rang out.

* * *

The lift slid open and Matt stepped out slowly. Hood up over his head, he glanced left, right and then stared forward, before taking one step forward, which led to the next step, over and over, until he was marching directly for the only set of blast doors that was in sight.

He didn't flinch as the doors opened when he approached, and he passed through them, before they closed – and locked shut with a second emergency set of a blast doors. He found himself in a dark hall, with few lights on, spread selfishly among the corridor. He started down it, unnerved.

He heard the whispers as he moved down slowly. He made no motion for his light saber. His fear for anything had vanished, replaced by pure rage for Aayla. "Come out, cowards." He whispered.

"_Yes… let the fear and anger consume you. Use it…"_

He stopped in the middle of the corridor, and didn't move, listening. The whispers had suddenly ceased. Matt closed his eyes and suddenly the grating on the sides of the corridor which made up the walls began to fly off, all around him. He put his right fist into his open left hand, closing it up around the fist.

"Is that the best you can do?" He whispered calmly, through the chaos. Suddenly the gratings suddenly just stopped, dropping from dead air. Matt extended his right fist out and suddenly the trooper appeared, hanging in the air as his cloaking device deactivated. He grabbed at his throat, choking, until finally, his neck just broke from extreme pressure.

Matt opened his fist and watched the dead man drop to the ground, before turning and marching forward once again. He had to find Sidious.

* * *

Kristy sighed as she looked at Lara and Rebecca. The two had to go into combat, regardless of whether they liked it or not. It was the only way to ensure their survival in a way. At least they wouldn't just be sitting around waiting to be killed.

"Ladies… I know you don't want to do this. But it's the only way I know your okay."

The two girls just looked at Kristy blankly. She pursed her lips. "I need you to each take a blaster. Okay? Just, aim and shoot if anyone tries to shoot at you."

She handed them both a blaster pistol, and they both took it, reluctantly. "We are going with you, right?" Rebecca asked. Kristy smiled. "Yes, Hun. You are coming with me and the commandos. Now then, grab your stuff. We've got to go help Matt and AJ."

Rebecca and Lara grabbed their packs and tossed them over their shoulders and followed Kristy out, where they found the commandos standing ready. "Alright. Let's go." Kristy said.

* * *

Matt stopped in a massive room, where there were two statues on either side of a pair of blast doors; Jedi obviously. The statues were large, and maybe a little daunting. But Matt shrugged off the feeling. He rubbed his temple as the whispers started again.

"_You are close. I can feel you… come in. Face the true power of the dark side…"_

Matt shook his head and shoved his hands forward toward the door, causing it to explode open. He stepped through it, light saber hilt in hand. The short hall was dark, but the room ahead was well lit. He moved into it, and found Darth Sidious standing at the end, seemingly alone.

"Good…" He purred. "Good. Come here, boy…"

Matt closed his eyes and took a step forward. "You know that I'm here to destroy you."

"Of course. I've waited a long time for this. You should know by now, you can not destroy me completely. Only by turning yourself completely to the dark side of the force can you wipe me out."

Matt narrowed his eyes. "I don't think so…"

Sidious smiled. "You want her to be safe. To be alive. Only the dark side can save her! Only I can save her!"

"NO!" Matt leapt across the room, and the blue flash of his blade clashed with the blood red blade of Sidious.

* * *

There was a sudden beeping on Kristy's wrist. She looked at the tracking unit. Matt was at the target's location. "Shit." She activated her comm link. "AJ! He's already there. Move in now!"

"Copy. Moving in Kay."

AJ practically slid down the ventilation shaft, until she reached her exit. She stopped and ejected her wrist gauntlet and slashed the grating locks off. It fell through and AJ dropped down after it. Her helmet motion detection went off almost immediately.

She spun around, swinging her arms – and wrist gauntlets, into several soldiers which came at her from different directions. As the first two dropped, she leapt upwards, and kicked her legs to either side, knocking two more down, before somersaulting down and rolling back up onto her feet, both blasters out. She blasted the last soldier and then took off running through the blast doors, which had been forcefully removed.

She raced through the short, dark hall, and into a brightly lit room, where she saw something that made her breath a sigh of relief. Only for a second. And only one sigh. The two blades clashed, flashed and crackled as the two men engaged each other in deadly combat.

"Oh God."

* * *

Kristy stopped and checked for pulse. There wasn't one. Kristy closed her eyes. Matt had to be furious. "Oh my God…"

"What is it?" Sev asked. "He's in danger. AJ's in even worse danger then he is."

"Open fire!"

All seven spun around and dove for cover as Storm troopers entered behind them, and open fired.

"Damn it!"

"You're telling me!"

Lara looked around in panic. They were going to die if someone didn't do something. She stared at the lift.

"Evac onto the Lift!" She screamed. "Someone has to call it down, first!" Fixer shouted.

"Fierfek! Cover me!" Sev screamed. "07, no! Stay under cover!"

But Sev ignored the order by Boss, and leapt from his cover and raced over to the lift controls. "Forward fire! Cover him!" Boss screamed in unison with Kristy. Everyone was firing at the troopers, whom were attempting their best to target Sev, who was wide open for a kill shot. Or ten.

"Fire! Fire!" Scorch shouted loudly. The blaster bolts engulfed the lift area behind their cover – and with it, Delta Oh Seven.


	26. Chapter 26

**Chapter Twenty Six**

"Commando down! I repeat! Commando down!" Fixer shouted, as he unleashed his DeeCee anti-armor attachment on the troopers. Boss turned and rushed over to Sev as blaster fire engulfed the area again, only to stop suddenly as Scorch and Fixer volleyed the area with grenades.

Boss dropped down next to Sev, who twitched slightly. He took off Sev's helmet. "Damn it soldier! Didn't I tell you to stay under cover?"

"Sure did Boss. But I had to get you guys out. Especially the younglings over there."

He grabbed Boss's hand and squeezed it tightly. "Vode An, 38. Vode An. Kill the bastard."

Boss just nodded.

"Don't worry Sev… we're going to cream this guy like my stuffed Trando back home." Scorch said, dropped down and combining his hand with Boss's and Sev's. Then Fixer was there. Kristy just stood there, watching, not wanting to interfere with their final goodbyes.

* * *

AJ ducked out of sight quickly. She closed her eyes. It was a bad idea from the beginning. She had known that. But now, it was starting to become a reality. The image of Matt dropping to his knees in front of Sidious wasn't something she wanted to keep in the front of her mind. She wanted to push it over the edge of where her memory ended and just forget it completely.

She could hear the two talking in the room.

"Stand. You have an important job, Smith."

"I am at your bidding, Darth Sidious."

"Yes… you must remove your friends from the picture completely. Then you will see your lover once more…" Sidious growled.

AJ took out her comm link and activated it. But the signal refused to go through to Kristy. She had to warn them before they ran into Matt.

She turned and rushed down the hall and back through the destroyed blast doors, only to find the group racing toward her. "No…" she whispered. "Run!"

"_They're waiting for you…"_

"Run? AJ, what are you talking about?"

Suddenly there was a blue flash as the light saber flew around like a boomerang. AJ shoved Kristy down to the ground, barely avoiding the deadly blade. "Sidious has control of him! We have to go!"

"No! MATT!" Kristy leapt to her feet and rushed forward toward the blast doors, as Matt stepped through them. He looked out from beneath the cover of his hood, and raised a hand up, catching his blade in his hand.

"Matt! We have to end this! He knows where the portal is! We can leave!"

"NO! I need to see her! I can't go with out her!"

He raised his blade and brought it down – as Scorch rushed over and tackled Matt to the ground. But the blade connected with Kristy's skin, and she let out a yelp of hot pain as she hit the ground, wounded.

"Get her up! We have to go!" Boss screamed. Matt force shoved Scorch off of him, and Scorch landed hard on the ground a few dozen feet away from him.

"I have to do this!" Matt hissed, standing and welding his saber again. AJ rushed over and stood in front of Kristy, blocking his aim against her. "You do not have to do this. He's got you under his control! Fight it!"

"I…" He increased his hold on his blade. "I can't." He raised his blade high in the air. AJ dropped to the ground and slid her feet around, knocking his out from under him. Fixer rushed over and picked up Kristy and pulled her back as she winced from the pain in her side from light saber slice.

AJ turned to the others and nodded. "Go. I'll hold him off."

Boss nodded as he waved the group along, down another corridor. They'd never make it to the turbo lift in time to avoid the Jedi's wrath. He knew that much for sure.

AJ turned back to Matt, as he stood and brushed himself off. He looked down at his light saber hilt, which lay on the ground between them. AJ glanced down at it as well, but kept her eyes on him. "Don't try it." She warned.

Matt extended his hand out, and AJ leapt for the hilt at the same time, but it was too late. She landed belly down on the ground as the hilt floated up to his hand. The blade was activated without hesitation and Matt gave AJ a look of pure darkness.

"No." came a soft whisper.

* * *

"We can't leave her there! What happened to never leaving a man behind?!" Kristy roared. Fixer lowered Her against the wall as Rebecca and Lara locked the door. Boss turned to Kristy. "First of all, she gave me a direct order. She gave us all that order. I follow orders."

"Well, that's true. I forgot that." Kristy hissed sarcastically. Boss stared at her through his helmet. She knew he was staring at her, probably with a glare no doubt. "What is that supposed to mean, Captain?"

Kristy closed her eyes and gritted her teeth. "Nothing. Forget it."

Everyone seemed to be holding their breath at that moment as the two stared at each other. "Scorch. Fixer." Boss said finally. "Search the room. Find a way out. No doubt we have a minimum amount of time to evac."

"Are you kidding me? We have to kill Sidious!"

"If a Jedi couldn't do it, what makes you think a commando can do it? Don't be foolish Kristy." Boss muttered.

"Sir," Fixer said, activating a holo-record. Boss examined it. "Fierfek." Boss muttered softly. Kristy nodded toward them. "What is it?"

Boss looked up at Fixer, and then turned to Kristy. "Even if we could kill Sidious, we'd have to go through about six more of him. He had clones of himself created. No doubt their in waiting; a failsafe for if he is truly defeated."

Kristy moaned. "Fuck." She muttered.


	27. Chapter 27

**Chapter Twenty Seven**

Matt raised his blade. AJ didn't hesitate. She slid forward, and kicked her feet into his legs, knocking him to the ground. He hit the ground, and the light saber tumbled to the ground, landing between the two of them, once again. But this time, AJ continued her assault on him, standing and kicking him in the side, sending him rolling a few times. She turned and raced over for the light saber, only to find herself being shoved forward by an invisible force.

She hit the wall face first and fell to the ground, dazed. Matt walked toward her slowly, force pulling the saber to him again. "You killed her! You all killed her! And now he's the only one that can bring her back! I have to do this!"

Suddenly she felt herself being picked up into the air by her throat. Matt stared into her face. She stared into his eyes, as she gasped for air. "Matt… please…" She gasped. He just glared at her.

"STOP!" a voice suddenly cried out. Matt froze. The look in his eyes was confusion. His grip on AJ's throat loosened, until he finally released her. "Aayla…? Is it really you?"

Aayla stood, her blue saber glowing in the doorway. "Yes, My love. It's me. Step away from the bounty hunter. What you are doing is wrong."

"But… he said he was the only one who could save you… bring you back…"

"He's wrong. I was unconscious. Not dead. Give me the light saber."

She extended her hand out. Matt looked down at his light saber, and then looked up at Aayla. "No! You're dead! Your not real!" He turned to AJ. "Stop playing with my head damn it!" He waved his light saber at her.

Suddenly he was floating in the air, choking. His light saber flew from his hand, and floated into Aayla's. With a wave of her hand, he flew into the wall, and fell to the ground, unconscious.

There was a cackling from the torn up door way behind Matt and AJ. "You fools. You can't defeat me!"

He shot out his hands, and from his fingertips, shot out electricity. Aayla held out her blade, absorbing it. "You are wrong. We can, and will defeat you."

She gave her light saber a shove forward, causing the electricity to spark back, and blast into Sidious' face, sending him backwards. Aayla rushed forward, with a little aid from the force, and leapt forward, as Sidious rolled onto his back, moaning form the suddenly assault.

She spun the saber around in her hands in mid-air and came down hard, slamming it into Sidious' chest. He gasped from the strike, and suddenly just dissolved into the air, leaving behind his clothing. Aayla collapsed onto the floor, exhausted.

Then she remembered. _Matt. _She leapt to her feet and rushed back to where she had left Matt and AJ.

* * *

"How many clones are there again?"

Boss narrowed his eyes as he studied the data pad with his own eyes – helmet off. He sighed as he turned to Kristy. "About 6. Why?"

"Does it tell the locations of the 6?"

Boss looked back at the data pad. He nodded his eyes. "Sure does."

"Where are they?"

"One on Ryloth, Taris. Trandosha, Nal Hutta, and…" Boss looked up at the small group; Kristy, Fixer, Scorch, Lara and Rebecca. "Uh… Boss. You okay?" Fixer asked. "There's one on Coruscant." He replied.

"Wait, if there's one on Coruscant…" Scorch started, "Then who was Matt fighting? The Original or a…

"Clone. It's a trap!" Kristy hissed. She turned and rushed for the door, holding her wounded side. "AJ! It's a trap!" She screamed.

* * *

Aayla rushed back down the hall, and came to a stop when she found Matt still unconscious, and AJ sitting across from him, watching. "Well. Sidious is dead." Aayla said softly, kneeling next to Matt, who was slowly stirring from his darkness.

AJ nodded toward him. "Is he… going to be alright?" She asked Secura. She smiled at AJ. "Should be. A bit of mind control can always be cured by disabling the origin."

AJ let out a sigh of relief. That was until she heard Kristy's voice. "AJ! It's a trap!"

She sucked in a breath suddenly and everything went quiet. _What's a trap?_ She asked silently. Aayla stood up from Matt's side as The group entered the room again. "What's going on?"

"Sidious. It's not him. It's just a clone."

"A clone? Are you mental?" AJ asked. Kristy looked over at her and shook her head, holding up the data pad. She tossed it to her. Matt moaned in slight pain and Aayla dropped back down to him. "Matt?"

He blinked his eyes slowly. "Aa… Aayla? Is that really you?"

She smiled. "Yes, my love. It's really me."

Kristy sighed slowly and glanced over at Scorch. But she wasn't sure where he was looking with his helmet on.

"But…" Matt started. Aayla put a finger to his lips. "Shhh. Not now. We'll talk later. We have to go."

She stood and turned to Kristy. "What is it? How many clones?"

AJ handed her the pad and she examined it. "Six. Or, correction now. Five. We just killed one?"

"This isn't right…" Matt murmured. AJ glanced over at him, and then back at the two women.

Kristy nodded in answer, as she took back the pad. "Right then. We'd better go quickly. We haven't much time then. Hopefully by destroying the clones, we can unravel the location of the true origin of Sidious." Secura said.

"Look out!" AJ shouted. Secura reacted in a blink of an eye, and dropped down and rolled to the side as Matt took a swing. AJ stood and rushed over and tackled Matt into the wall, but was force pushed to the side. "NO!"

Aayla stood and drew her blade. Matt suddenly called his blade to him, and it flew from Secura's belt and landed in his hand. He activated it and the two blades clashed, before Matt quickly shoved Secura away.

"NO! It can't be you! Your not real! Only he can truly bring you back to me!"

"Matt! He's using the dark side to influence your mind! You must resist it!"

"I… can't! I must destroy you all to bring her back!" He pulled out of the saber lock and kicked Aayla back away from him. She responded by force pushing him backwards into the throne room. She waved her hand, lifting a piece of scrap metal from the ground and shoved it over the doorway, blocking off his exit for the time being.

"Let's go. Quickly. We can only help him by killing Sidious and his clones!"


	28. Chapter 28

**Chapter Twenty Eight**

_11 days after the first Sidious clone destruction_

_**Data Log Entry: Harrington, Kristy – Captain**_ We've been keeping low. Staying in the shadows. I've been going over the things we've gone through and the people we've lost to get to this moment in time. And what I've discovered by going through all this stuff, is that we've paid a might big price. We've lost good people; Sev. Darman. Fi. Niner. Atin. Obi-Wan.

Even The great Jedi Master Yoda was killed in past events since we've arrived. I'm wondering if We're not just a plague on the galaxy. Everyone is dying around us, and what are we doing to stop it?

Only what we truly can; nothing. It breaks my heart to see that even Matt has be turned to the dark side. Jedi Master Secura said that it's only temporary, that we can fix it. All we have to do is kill Sidious and his clones. And that's the terror of the situation. How do we stop someone who can be anywhere he wants without batting an eye?

It scares me to be completely honest. After setting up a small camp on Tatooine, AJ went scouting the list of locations that Sidious or one of his clones may be located at. It's been almost 8 days since she left. I'm getting worried more then ever now. Matt's hunting us as Sidious has ordered him to. We can only hope---_**Static fills the holo transmission before it end**_

_**

* * *

**_

_2 days after Data Log Entry_

_

* * *

_

No one was answering AJ's comm bursts. She was getting worried. She flew the ship in and landed it directly outside the small camp that had been set up some 13 days ago. As she lowered the boarding ramp, she rushed out of the ship, putting on her helmet and activating her HUD. She drew her blaster rifle and approached the camp entrance with caution. Something didn't feel right. Her boots crunched on the hard sand and dirt underneath her as she reached down and activated the controls for the twin blast doors.

They slid open slowly, and stopped mid-way. AJ peered through the opening. It was pitch black inside. A shiver rolled down her spine. She activated her tactical lamp on her helmet and stepped through the opening. As she looked around, shining her light around the main chamber of the camp, she sighed. The place was a wreak. Something had happened. Someone had attacked the base.

Perhaps Tusken Raiders? Troopers? Sidious? A thought crossed her mind of what else it could be, but she didn't want to think about it. _Matt?_ She moved through the wreckage of the base, and crossed into another room, where she saw dim light from a window. As she moved toward it, she heard a soft whispering coming from the light source.

She raised her blaster up, prepared to defend herself. She had no idea what was waiting on the other side of the window, but she was not taking any chances. As she approached the window, something grabbed her from behind. A hand covered the voice plate of her helmet as the person drug her backwards. Suddenly they stopped around the corner. AJ was spun around and she found herself facing Fixer. "Four-oh, what the hell is going on?!" She hissed at him. He put a gloved finger his hit voice plate. _Be quiet. _AJ sucked in a breath instinctively.

"Sidious' clones attacked our base about 2 days ago. No one was killed. But I've lost communications with them about an hour ago. We've been trying to escape, but a recon of the area has shown that there's troopers guarding every entrance."

AJ blinked behind her helmet. "That can't be right. I got in with no problem, besides the doors not opening fully."

Fixer stared at her. "What? You're right. That can't be right." He looked down at his gloved hands. AJ looked around and then looked back at him. "What aren't you telling me?"

He sighed. "It's not just Sidious' clones. It's…"

"Matt." She breath. "He's here."

Fixer nodded. Suddenly there was a laugh. It was long, drawn out, created by the dark side of the force. They both knew it. Sidious. Or more likely, one of his clones. "You can not defeat the dark side! I am too strong for even Yoda to defy!"

Fixer suddenly shoved AJ backwards and open fired with his DeeCee rifle. AJ scrambled around to see what he was shooting at, only to have blaster fire hit the wall, just meters away from her chest plate. She gritted her teeth behind her helmet and raised her blaster rifle up and fired at several troopers that had entered the hall. One went down with a scream and the other dove behind cover. "Stay close." Fixer said. AJ nodded.

As they backed down the hall, back toward the where the trooper had dove for cover, the laugh sounded again and suddenly Sidious was standing behind them. Fixer spun around and swung his gauntlet vibro-blade at his head, but Sidious ducked and force pushed him toward AJ, who ducked, and came up swinging her right leg around, knocking it into Sidious. He fell backwards and AJ reached back behind her left shoulder plate, and threw a throwing knife into Sidious's throat.

After a minute of gargling sounds, the clone died. Fixer stood over the trooper that had been hiding. He was dead. He nodded over at AJ. "You clear?"

AJ nodded back. "Clear. Clone two is dead. Four remaining."

Suddenly there was a burst of static in both of their helmet comms. "Someone… anyone… please… I'm in the docking bay. It's one of the clones…" AJ knew the voice immediately. Rebecca. "Let's move. We have another clone to kill." The two nodded in agreement and raced down the corridor. They ran as fast as their legs would take them, and considering that they had leg plating on due to the armor, it was pretty fast. But suddenly the wall to their left exploded and Aayla flew out in front of them and hit the wall. She moaned from pain, but picked herself up. "Another clone dead."

"Three for three, then." Boss said, walking out through the hole in the wall. Secura looked at him. "Next time, ease up on the explosives." Boss chuckled. "That's why Scorch is the demolitions expert."

"General. Boss. We've received a communication from Rebecca. She's in the docking bay, being hunted by another clone."

"Quick question. How did they track us here? And why are all the clones _here_?" AJ asked. Aayla looked at her. "Matt." She said flatly. AJ closed her eyes, knowing that none of them could see it. "Any word on Scorch, Kristy or Lara?"

Boss shook his head. "That's a negative."

"Then let's get to the docking bay. We have three more clones to kill." Boss sighed. "That sounded so wrong…" He murmured.

* * *

The docking bay of the camp was small, with several small shuttles and a few speeder bikes. Aayla hit the button which opened the door, and she ignited her light saber. The blue light from the blade lit the way as the four of them entered the bay.

They could hear an evil laugh as they looked around for Rebecca. Or even better; Sidious' clone. "Come, come, little one. I'm going to show you the true power of the dark side…" He whispered. Aayla waved AJ and Fixer off to the right, while she took the left with Boss. AJ pursed her lips behind her helmet as She led the way around the bay slowly.

"General. Movement. 4-o-clock." Boss said to Aayla, who turned with Boss, weapons ready. Out of the shadows, Lara ran up to them, with Rebecca, who grabbed onto Aayla's free arm and pointed back the way they came. "He's coming."

Aayla looked over at Boss, who looked at her, and nodded. The four backed away toward the door that used to get in. "AJ. Fixer. Get ready."

AJ put a hand to the side of her helmet. "Ready for what?"

There was a scream as the clone Sidious came rushing toward her. She glanced around for Fixer, who had vanished. "Four-oh! No!" She screamed, stumbling backwards onto the ground. As the clone Sidious came closer, suddenly Fixer dropped down off the ceiling and jammed his vibro-blade into the cranium of the clone, killing it. "Two left." Fixer said, extending his hand out to AJ. She looked up at him, and glared, even though she knew he couldn't see it. After a moment, she took his hand and got to her feet. "Your going to get us all killed one of these days."

"Yeah, well. We all die eventually. Some of us soon then others." He muttered, walking away from her. AJ kicked herself inside. Stupid move. She sighed and followed him back inside, when suddenly there was a rumble from deep inside the base. "What was that?!" She exclaimed.

"Felt like a demo blast."

"Scorch!"

"And maybe Captain Harrington."

"Move your shebs!" Boss muttered. All six of them raced down the corridor, when suddenly all the walls around them began to explode. Boss and Fixer shoved the girls to the floor, and covered them with their bodies as the debris fell down on top of the group.

Dust filled the air and for a moment, nothing moved. Nothing breathed. There was no sound. Until the debris began to move and Boss and Fixer shoved it off of them and onto the floor around them. As they checked the girls, the group looked around and found themselves in the center of the base – the tactical room to be exact, which was a large round room. In the center, stood Sidious. Or perhaps one of the two remaining clones? No one was sure. "Fabulous! The group is back together!"

Boss, Fixer, and AJ all aimed their weapons at him, but Sidious held his hands up. "Do that, and you'll never know how to return back to the portal!"

There was a laugh, which seemed to surround them. They stepped into the room, and saw two more of Sidious. AJ switched to private helmet comms. "The real Sidious is here. But which one is it?"

"Well, let's find out!"

"GUYS!" They turned and looked over across the room at another doorway, where Kristy and Scorch were standing. "We've got enough guns here now."

Boss nodded over to Scorch, who nodded to Kristy. Suddenly Scorch and Kristy fired upon the closest Sidious, as Boss and Fixer fired at the Sidious in the center of the room. AJ turned her sights on the Sidious on the far side of the room. He roared as the other two, whom were clones, vanished from the fire power. "Kill them! All of them!" He roared. Suddenly A figure dropped down into the center of the room.

"Matt!" Kristy screamed. He looked up, lowering his cloak, and ignited his light saber. AJ felt her heart beat increase. She reached down to her belt and withdrew a hilt. She hit a button on it and a vibro-blade extended out. She looked over at Aayla. "You are going to have to deal with Sidious. I'll hold him off until you can kill him."

"AJ…"

"GO!" She screamed, before turning toward Matt, who looked at her, and raised his blade up into a ready position. Aayla sighed and nodded determinedly. She raced off after Sidious. As she entered the hall he had entered, she slowed, as she felt whispers in the force. _You can't hope to survive. _She closed her eyes and ignored the voices.

The blades clashed, but only one gave off a hiss. AJ stared into Matt's eyes, and she saw emptiness. Kristy rushed up behind Matt, and he shoved AJ away and back-kicked Kristy into the wall. Boss, Scorch, and Fixer rushed over to help with the hold-off. All they had to do was keep him occupied long enough to let Aayla stop Sidious.

Permanently.


	29. Chapter 29

**Chapter Twenty Nine**

"You must realized that the young man will never stay here. He will never stay here with you. He'll leave, with his friends, back to where he came from. I have foreseen this."

"You have foreseen much, and much of that has come true. But not everything happens just because you have foreseen it." Aayla stood, with her eyes closed, tracking Sidious through the force. "And even if he does leave, what am I supposed to say of it? If it is his wish to leave, then he shall leave. I do not wish for him to base his decisions off of me."

"Ah, but you do." Aayla inhaled sharply. "I can feel it with-in you. You fear that moment. The moment that he might leave to gave back to his world."

"I do not fear. Fear is the path to hate. Hate leads to the dark side."

"Ah, yes. The Jedi warning."

Suddenly Aayla stood, spinning on her right heel, and clashed her blade into Sidious's blood red blade. "Ha-ha!" Sidious laughed, and pulled his blade back for another run at her head, then her legs, and back again. Each time she parried his blow, or leapt, or ducked.

Suddenly she kicked him back, and he leapt away, landing a few feet behind her.

* * *

Matt kicked his left leg sideways, catching Fixer in the knee plate, knocking him down, before smashing the butt of his hilt into Scorch's helmet, knocking him away. Kristy held her hands out and sucked in a breath before firing several blasts of water at Matt, knocking him around a bit, but not harming him.

As AJ, Boss, Fixer, Scorch and Kristy gathered around him, he steadied himself for a moment, and suddenly his legs were knocked out from under him, sending him flat on his back. Suddenly he was lifted back to his feet and then thrown on his face. His light saber hilt rolled away, and Rebecca picked it up. Kristy blinked. "Where's Lara?" She asked.

Suddenly there was a voice, coming from Matt. Or more precisely; next to him. Lara materialized out of the air and stood, with her foot on his back, grinning. "Just a little trick I've been working on." She said.

* * *

Aayla turned as Sidious circled her. "Do you love him?" He asked her. She ignored the question. "Ah…" He whispered. "You are not sure. But you do have feelings for him. You just haven't gotten them sorted out yet."

"I'm working on it. I've heard you don't generally rush things like that." She hissed at him. He cackled. "YES! Now you are giving in to you anger! Let it flow through you!" He disengaged his light saber and tossed it at her feet. "Strike me down! Take my place, and have your lover as your apprentice, as it was before I destroyed the Jedi!"

* * *

"Cuffs are on tight." Scorch said, taking off his helmet. AJ shook her head. "Just keep your guard up. He's a Jedi. Their full of tricks." She said, looking at Matt, who was unconscious and had cuffs on his hands, behind his back. She turned and looked in the direction that Aayla had ran off in. She sighed, and pulled her helmet off.

* * *

Sidious just smiled. "You know you want to…" Aayla breathed slowly. In. Out. Repeat. "I'll never turn." She said. Sidious glared. "Then you… will… face your destiny!" He fired out some force electricity, which slammed into Aayla, knocking her light saber from her hands.

He stopped for a moment, as she lay on the ground, crying from the pain of the shocks. "You should know… that the death of your new found friends… are on your hands. But that can be prevented…" He smiled as he looked at her. She glanced at the light saber. "Take your light saber and destroy me."

Aayla stood slowly, still twitching a bit from the electricity. She shook her head. "Never." She said. Sidious glared again. "So… be it." He murmured.

* * *

Matt's eyes opened slowly, then he went to red alert. He leapt up, calling his light saber to him from Rebecca's hands. She let out a shout of surprise. The commandos turned. "Stop, Commander!"

Matt ignited the saber, freeing himself from the cuffs. He leapt forward, kicking Fixer and Scorch to the ground, before Boss open fired on him. Matt just deflected the blasts, and sent one into Boss's chest plate, knocking the wind out of him. "Matt!" Kristy screamed. He extended an arm, force pushing her backwards into the wall.

He turned back and raised his blade over Scorch.

* * *

Sidious raised his hands. Aayla prepared herself for more electric shocks.

* * *

Kristy shook her head and saw Matt, his blade raised. "Scorch! NO!" She screamed.

* * *

Suddenly there was a ticking.

Aayla looked down.

Matt looked down.

There was a flash and a loud bang.

Then there was blaster fire.

* * *

Sidious fell to the ground. Landing at Aayla's feet. She found herself shaking, as she looked down, feeling the darkness in the force slowly drain away. She looked behind her, and AJ, Helmetless, nodded slowly.

* * *

"No!" Kristy's scream filled the entire base. Matt stared down at Scorch, who was laying on the ground, helpless. Suddenly Matt disengaged the blade. The hilt dropped to the ground. He too, was shaking as he dropped to his knees. Scorch scrambled away and got to his feet, to stand next to Kristy as Aayla rushed into the room. She dropped next to Matt as he fell backwards, his face completely blank for the next few moments as Aayla held on tight to him.

Then he blinked.

"Aayla?" He said softly. Aayla looked down at him. "Yes, it's me, Matt."

He sat up in her arms. "Kristy?" He looked around. "Boss. Fixer. Scorch. Lara." He looked over and breathed a sigh of relief. "Sis." He said, looking at Rebecca. She just nodded at him.

"Welcome back, Matt." He looked over at a bounty hunter in Mandalorian Armor. "I'm glad your back."

"Take off the bucket." He said. The Mando'a just looked at him. "AJ…!"

She sighed and removed the helmet. He smiled softly. "Thank you."

Aayla grabbed his arm and helped him to his feet. "Come on. We're going home…"

"Which is?"

"Shut up." She said, softly.

Scorch chuckled in the background.


	30. Chapter 30

**Chapter Thirty**

_3 Months Later – Naboo_

The small villa overlooked a massive waterfall, which overlooked the City of Theed, the central city of Naboo. The villa itself wasn't massive. But it wasn't exactly small either. More like, just big enough to start over.

Aayla stood in the fresher, staring at the Twi'lek female that stared back. Was it a Jedi? Was it a soldier? A civilian? She wasn't sure. Suddenly there was arms around her, hugging her tightly. She couldn't help but smile softly.

"Good morning." She said softly. He just replied by pulling her into a kiss. "Good morning to you, sweetheart."

"Hey, I'm going to head over to the security station and see how the rebuilding on Coruscant is going. Wanna come?" She said, standing. Matt shook his head. "No, I've actually got some things to do here."

She nodded slowly. "I'll see you later then." She started to walk away, before turning back and smiling. "Hey, Matt." He looked over at her. "I love you." She left the room, and he heard the door close behind her as she left the villa. He sighed and went over to the wardrobe. As he looked through his clothing, he saw something he hadn't seen in a good while.

He pulled out his old cloak. He closed his eyes, taking himself back to the time when all they had was to hunt Sidious and stop a war. An empire. He was pulling it on, when something fell to the ground. He finished putting it on, and then knelt down and picked up a data pad. He sat down on the edge of the bed and looked it over.

As he activated it, he swallowed slowly. "Oh, my god…" He said.

* * *

"What is so important, Matt?" Kristy asked, pouring a cup of juice for him. He took it and looked at it, as if he was organizing his thoughts. "Kristy. Do you remember, that Sidious was the only one who knew how to get us back home?"

She cocked an eyebrow. "Yeah. But we never got him to talk, AJ had to kill him outright."

"Right. I…" he chewed his bottom lip, when suddenly a large man walked into the room. He threw his arms around Kristy from behind, hugging her tightly, before slowly kissing her on the neck. Matt cocked an eyebrow as Kristy giggled. "Scorch! Not now. Matt's here. And…"

Then the door bell went off. She sighed. "That'll be AJ, Rebecca, and Lara." He nodded. He heard Kristy greeting them, before they all wondered into the kitchen. A place where all their meetings took place after the war with Sidious.

AJ was actually wearing a simple tunic for a change, instead of her armor. Rebecca had a pistol on her hip and the Naboo Security outfit on. Lara was also wearing a simple tunic, but she had several necklaces and a bunch of packs around her waist.

"So, Matt. You were saying?" Kristy said, pouring juice for the others.

"Sidious… He gave me the information to get back home."

The juice container fell from Kristy's hand, and crashed to the ground. "Oh." Was all she said, staring at the mess on the floor. AJ just stared at Matt. "We… can… go home?" Rebecca asked. Matt looked at Kristy, before answering Rebecca. "If you want. We sure can."

"How does it work?"

Matt looked over at Kristy. "It's simple. We have to go to where it ended."

"We destroyed that camp. We can't go back." AJ said. "Besides…"

"Besides what? Look, I'm not saying any one of us HAS to go back. But I'm not going to stop you from going back if that's what you want."

"I want to go back." They all looked over at Lara. "Look, this is a nice jazzy place and all, but I'd much rather go back to… you know."

No one spoke. They all just looked down, every one of their minds racing. This changed everything. And they all knew it. "You know… once you leave, it says you can't come back."

"Why not?!" Kristy said. Matt looked over at her. "Because. It's like a time portal according to this pad. When we left our world, time stopped over there. It's like a video game. It's on pause."

"No one will know we ever left?"

Matt nodded slowly. "So… anyone else want to go with Lara?"

Kristy shook her head and then turned and rushed out of the room, leaving everyone in silence. "I'm staying here."

"As am I." AJ said. She nodded at Matt. "It's up to you."

Matt thought for a moment. "Lara. Pack your things. I'll get you back to normal."

Lara nodded and ran off to get her things.

* * *

The small craft flew into the atmosphere of Tatooine. As Matt piloted the ship over the desert landscape. Lara stared out of the viewport, in awe. "You can still change your mind, you know…" He said to her. She looked over at him and smiled. "Yeah. I'm fine with my discussion."

"I'm sorry that they didn't come."

"That's fine." She said softly. "I've never been good at goodbyes anyhow."

He activated the landing procedures. "Well, it's not much longer now." He said softly. The ship set down just a few yards away from the old camp site, which was now more ashes after they burnt it to the ground.

"So, how does it work?" She asked as they stood, staring at the remains of the camp. He sighed, recalled every word off the data pad.

_The ending was the entrance for the return._

He walked over, a few steps away from Lara and knelt down, taking a hand full of dirt. He let it drain through his fingers.

_Use the powers I have given you._

He closed his eyes. "Lara. You'll know what to do."

"Lara! Wait!"

Matt opened his eyes at the sound of Kristy's voice. He stood and looked over at the two as they hugged each other tightly. "I'm sorry I was a bitch before. I just don't want you to you. You're the closest thing I have to my kind." He glanced over at Matt. "No offense."

Matt waved it off with a soft smile. "I couldn't just let you go without saying goodbye."

"Neither could we." Matt watched as AJ and Rebecca walked up, with Aayla and Scorch. "Aayla." Matt said, as she walked over to him. "How long have you had it?"

"Ever since I had joined him. I just… forgot he'd put it in my cloak."

"Why are you just letting her go?"

"Because. It's what she wants. I don't mess with free will."

Suddenly he felt a hand on his shoulder. "Matt."

He looked at Lara, who was standing in front of him now. "Thank you. For being the friend that you are."

He shrugged and suddenly she pulled him into a hug. He put his arms around her and gave her a hug back. "It's my pleasure. I'll see you in another life, or maybe sooner, depending on fate."

She nodded. "I'm ready."

He nodded, and turned away. "I need you guys to stand back." He said softly. Aayla looked at him, with a questioning looked, but followed the others to the side-lines. He closed his eyes, hands in front of him.

Nothing happened for several seconds, until the slightest of winds picked up, a slight breeze at first, and then it started to swirl the sand around the camp site in front of them. Aayla watched Matt closely. Something wasn't right.

_Let the power consume you. The fear must be allowed to access you._

Lightening filled the sky overhead.

_Once the storm of power opens the entrances, then your destiny will be complete._

Suddenly a massive bolt of energy shot down from the storm, slamming into the camp site, and the wind really picked up. Matt opened his eyes, which were now pure white. "No! Stop!" Aayla screamed. Kristy rushed toward Matt, when suddenly a rectangle blue energy field suddenly opened up, replacing the camp site.

"Now." Matt said softly, as he dropped to his knees and his eyes returned to normal. Lara turned and walked into it, and suddenly vanished with the blue field in a bright white flash.


	31. Chapter 31

**Chapter Thirty One – Epilogue**

The flash was bright. It left Lara's skin with the feeling of dampness, and yet, it was refreshing. Then she saw darkness. It seemed like an entire life-time, but she woke up. Refreshed. Energized.

She found herself in the middle of the basement of the building where they had all met finally. The Conference. She looked around. Everything was as they had left it. She looked down at herself. She was still wearing the tunic, necklaces, and pouches from before. She'd have to get rid of them, or perhaps she could say she had been at a costume party?

She found her way to the elevator and hit the roof button.

*** *** ***

Aayla looked into Matt's eyes. He looked back at her, but something was different. "I… had to. I'm… sorry." He said.

"Matt… oh…"

Something feel from his belt. The data pad. Aayla reached down at picked it up.

_The ending was the entrance for the return._

_Use the powers I have given you._

_Let the power consume you. The fear must be allowed to access you._

_Once the storm of power opens the entrances, then your destiny will be complete._

_Your world is now mine. _

_And so are you._

*** *** ***

The elevator doors opened and Lara stepped out and took in a breath of air. It wasn't the fresh air she had been expecting though. And the night's sky wasn't as dark as she had been expecting.

The Imperial star destroyers made it worse then dark.


End file.
